Song of the Eclipse
by snuggalong
Summary: It's been five years since Syaoran left...and Sakura, Tomoyo, and Eriol are going to Hogwarts. What surprises await them there? With a new enemy, a new task, and a whole lot of adventure and romance, things are bound to happen...T for safety. SS&TE&RHR
1. Prologue: A Single Candle

SONG of the E c l i p s e

_Will the earth cover you? Will the  
night hide you?  
In deep or in darkness, still I am  
there  
Will you kindle the nova? Or kill the  
starlight?  
In fire or in deathcold, still I am there-_

-Life's "I Am"

PROLOGUE: A SINGLE CANDLE

_Knock. Knock._

"Please enter."

The door creaked open, and there was the sound of timid footsteps was heard.

"Sybil! Do come in, my dear! Sit, sit! Would you like a cup of tea? A lemon drop, perhaps?"

"Tea is fine, Albus…but my Eye has shown me that I should not eat your lemon drops. I'm watching my weight, you know."

"Why ever would you need to do that, Sybil-dear? As Molly Weasley says, you're much too thin already!"

"You flatter me, Albus..."

"Was there any specific reason you came here tonight, Sybil?"

The woman shuffled her feet, wringing her hands as her bug-eyes flitted nervously behind her spectacles. "I…I'm really not sure. I felt…something, something foreboding, yet compelling, something telling me to come here…"

"Has your Eye seen anything?"

"No, not lately…oh, Albus, you know as well as I do that I have barely a drop of the power my ancestor Cassandra had. Why do you keep me on?"

"You're a wonderful teacher, Sybil. Even if you do not See as clearly all the time, your knowledge of the Divination arts is unparalleled in today's world…"

_And for my own reasons…the prophecy…_

"You're far too kind, Albus. Truth be told, I heard something, in my dreams, last night—

_Shatter._

"Sybil? Sybil! Can you hear me?"

The woman's eyes had gone wide and blank, undiscerning of the world around her. They flitted back and forth, seeing things that no one else could.

All was silent for several moments, and then her mouth opened, her voice coming forth in a tone that was layered and mystical, seeming like there was several people speaking at once.

_But all is not lost.  
__From the far winds and distant corners of the universe  
__They will come.  
__Five from the wielders of the cosmos  
__Five from the wielders of the fire within  
__And five from those untouched by the Gods  
__They will come.  
__Thrice rises the dark. Thrice shall it fall?  
__Only when two hearts become one  
__When the song has been sung  
__When the melody has been played  
__And the last dance has been danced.  
__Will the darkness at last vanish,  
__As though it had never begun_

Her eyes cleared, and she sagged in her chair, energy spent. And Albus, for all his wisdom, merely stared at her, hardly daring to believe his ears. Was it possible? Could there be another way?

"Hm?" She looked up, startled, and looked around quickly. "Did…did I fall asleep? Oh my, I'm so sorry, Albus! You must think me terribly rude…"

"It's quite all right, Sybil. I've fallen asleep in the strangest of place sometimes…no harm done. Why don't you go back to your tower and rest a bit, though?"

"I think I will…" she said, and moved to stand, swaying a bit dizzily. "Thank you for the tea, Albus."

"Any time, m'dear."

She moved to go, but as she reached the door, she stopped and turned back, a strange look in her eyes. She spoke, and instead of her usually misty voice, it was a quiet, strong voice, full of knowledge.

"Darkness is coming, Albus, a darkness deeper than any I have ever seen. It will seem without end, and if we cannot believe, all will be lost—but there is always a hope. A time of great love and change is coming as well, a love greater than any ever seen; and we must believe in that love, because if we cannot believe in love—then what is left to believe? And then the darkness would truly fall…"

She trailed off and nodded once, vaguely, before turning and leaving as though nothing had happened.

And Albus was left to stare after her, wondering. Finally, he seemed to deflate ad bit, and he buried his head in his hands.

"A darkness greater than the world has ever seen…will I send them to their deaths? I am supposed to be their protector, their leader, their hope, yet I am sending them to the battlefield…"

However, he then looked up, a strange glint in his eyes. With surprising speed he grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill, uncapped a bottle of ink and began to write furiously, hand sweeping across the paper in swift, narrow strokes.

'_We will have no choice but to fight. The darkness will not be defeated without one—but still, when all is lost, it only takes a single candle to throw back the darkness…_

-fin-

Author's Note: …you would not believe where I was when the inspiration for writing this hit me.  
I was in the bathroom, at 6:10 a.m., brushing my teeth; thinking about how guilty I felt for not updating for the _eight months_, when BOOM! IT HIT ME!  
I'm in study hall right now as I type these words, eight hours later, and am feeling marginally less guilty.  
Now, as for what the heck is going on…well, quite frankly, those minor rewrites that were promised have suddenly turned major. Same basic plot, whole new style, a lot less clichés, etc.  
In short, TOTAL REWRITE.  
So, you, the readers, have a choice. This chapter is basically a pilot. I can either,

A.) Replace all of the current chapters with the new chapters and just keep the old ones on my computer for anyone who feels nostalgic, etc. and wants them, and I can send them so you can have them forever and ever to read at your discretion.

**OR**

B.) I can create an entirely new story with all the new chapters and put up an author's note on the old one saying that there's a new one, and you all can go read that and just look at the old one when you want some horrible writing to laugh at.

**OR**

C.) You can rant at me that the original story was completely fine, I should just do the minor rewrites and then continue, and don't even think about redoing everything.

It's all your choice; tell me by review or PM.  
And I really am sorry for the eight months it's taken to do this. If any of you care, I was in NaNoWriMo (and won!), and am almost done with the school year. Exams are in a few weeks. I've also been experimenting with my writing a lot, and now have a lot more to offer.

CIAO!  
—Erin

DISCLAIMER: I hold no claim to Harry Potter, Cardcaptor Sakura, or any other recognizable works within this piece of fiction. The poem "Life's 'I am'" belongs to Diane Duane and her Young Wizards series. The plotline and the prophecy, however, do belong to me.


	2. Chapter One: Perchance to Dream

SONG of the E c l i p s e

_The best thing about dreams is that one fleeting moment when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy; when, for just that single moment, you know with your entire being that dreams have come true, and the impossible been made reality._

CHAPTER ONE: PERCHANCE TO DREAM

_The worst dreams are the ones where you know you are dreaming and you cannot wake up._

_That is what was happening to him right now._

_He knew it was a dream; he remembered going to sleep._

_He did not want to see whatever terror his dreams held for him tonight, for whatever it was would surely cause nightmares, as did most of his dreams. Either that or they were already nightmares._

_He wasn't sure which was worse._

_Something was different tonight, though. The grey mist he usually floated in was gone, replaced by a dark void; strangely, that didn't scare him at all._

_There was no graveyard, no sickening flash of green light, no pleading screams, no high-pitched, cold laughter._

_Only darkness._

_But it wasn't dark for long; shapes, colors, and light began to appear, forming into an unfamiliar scene._

_He was in a parlor of sorts, a parlor that appeared Asian in appearance. Looking closer, though, he could see the English influence in it as well._

_Voices approached and he turned in time to see a set of doors open, admitting two people._

_Though to call them people was perhaps wrong, at least for one of them._

_The first was man with black hair pulled into a long ponytail, spectacles resting upon his long face. He was clad in dark robes embroidered with suns, moons, and stars._

_The second could only be described as an angel._

_Long silver hair reaching in an endless braid to coil on the floor, piercing violet eyes set in a pale, ageless face. Snowy white wings stretched behind him—for it was obviously a he—blending seamlessly with the strange white uniform he wore._

_And on the man's other side, having gone previously unnoticed, was a lion, large and golden, with ruby eyes and helmet upon its head._

_They were speaking—including the lion._

"_What have you foreseen, Master?" the angel asked._

"_Yue, you ask that every time I have a vision. Have I yet to give you a straight answer?"_

_A half-hearted glare was the man's answer._

"_Master, each vision takes more and more out of you. At this rate, you won't even last half as long as you have said you would, and that's already not very much! What have you deem important enough to have to know hundreds of years ahead of time?" This was the lion._

_So the man was a seer, and a powerful one at that._

_The man sat in a large plush chair and gazed into the fire, absently running a hand over the lion's head._

"_I cannot help but express an interest in the life of the one who will come after me. The more I try to resist, the more I want to know. Will they be kind? Will they be powerful? Will you be well treated?"_

_The angel—Yue, as he had called him—stiffened and practically snarled. "There is no need to look, for there will not _be_ one after you, Master."_

_The angel turned and left hurriedly, leaving behind a downcast lion and a sad man._

"_So he still has not accepted it..." the man murmured._

"_I still have a hard time accepting it, Master. You created us, and now you're going to leave us..."_

"_It cannot be helped, Keroberos, you know this. Everything has it's time, and unfortunately my time is almost at an end."_

"_I know...I just don't like to think about it...so, what did you see?"_

_The man chuckled. "Never one to stray from your goal, are you Kero? Well,very well, I'll share with you this once."_

_"I saw a school. A castle, large and grand, surrounded by mountains and a lake and a forest. 'Twas beautiful, and it taught magic to young people from all around the world. I saw my heir going there, learning magic, learning to love, and...taking on a great evil..."_

_"A school for magic, Master? What was it called?"_

_"Ah, now that was the funny thing! Such a silly name they gave it, hardly apt for such a grand place. They called it _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._"_

_"Hog...warts? They named after a pigs...skin ailment?"_

_"I did say it was silly, wasn't it? I can only hope my heir will brave the trials that come to them, though..."_

_"If they're anything like you, Clow, then they will."_

_"Ahh, you flatter me, Keroberos. But you're quite correct...I am sure they'll be all right."_

_The lion nodded soberly—and then suddenly snorted._

_"Hogwarts."_

_He awoke to the ringing of laughter in his ears._

* * *

Harry sat bolt upright in the semi-dawn darkness of his room, green eyes wide—and disoriented, as he realized that he couldn't see a thing.

He fumbled for the side table and finally located his glasses, placing them delicately on the bridge of his nose and peering around his shadowy room.

Amber eyes blinked drowsily at him from the corner of the room.

"Just a dream, Hedwig, go back to sleep," he whispered, and watched as his owl once more tucked her head beneath her snowy wings.

Harry let out a deep breath and hung his head in his hands, absently rubbing at his scar.

_What was _that?

It had certainly not been a nightmare, but it hadn't been a normal dream either. He had never seen those people—or heard those names—before in his life.

'_They must be magical though—they talked about Hogwarts! The way he spoke though...it was as though Hogwarts didn't exist yet.'_

He look up and spared a glance towards his desk, where parchment and quill sat, idly contemplating sending a letter to his friends.

He snorted then. He had been explicitly told that he was not to write unless his scar hurt or it was an emergency. His scar was not hurting—so he would not write them.

If they needed to know that badly, they could wait until he saw them at Grimmauld Place.

He looked to his calendar at that thought, barely able to make out the red x's that marked the days.

Three days.

That was how long he had to wait until he could finally get out of Privet Drive.

Oh, well. He'd been waiting for most of his life.

He could wait a little bit longer.

* * *

Meanwhile, across the world, the very person that dream had been talking was about was currently engaged in a vicious fight for their pride, life, and pudding.

"HYAHH!" came the cry from the clearing behind the house, and the sound of metal against metal reverberated through the air. Suddenly, a tangle of auburn hair whirled past, emerald eyes flashing in the sunlight. A slim sword was held delicately in pale hands, swung expertly through the air.

With a slight jump, the person was suddenly fifteen feet in the air, sailing towards the ground, sword held in front of her. Once again, metal met metal, and she sprang away into a couple of effortless back-handsprings, landing nimbly on her feet.

Breathing hard, the girl banished the sword and bowed to her opponent.

"Arigatou, Fight-san," she stated with a grin.

The figure across from her smiled mysteriously, bowed, and vanished.

She fell backwards onto the grass of the yard, closing her eyes in peaceful bliss as the sun shone down upon her face.

Eventually, she summoned the energy to call out, "Kero! You can come out now! We're done!"

Moments later, she heard the tell-tale sound of speeding wings, and she opened her eyes in time to see a golden blur soar in front of her face.

"PUDDING!" Kero shrieked, looping wildly in the air as she watched in amusement. "Pudding, pudding, pudding! GIVE ME PUDDING!"

"All right, all right!" she said, laughing and she stood and brushed off her sweatpants. "You know Kero, it's hardly a reward if I give you pudding whether I win or not."

"That's the point!" he stated as he floated alongside her into the house. "If you lose against Fight, I get pudding, and if you win, I get pudding! Either way, I get pudding!"

"Your logic leaves much to be desired, Kero-_chan_," she teased, causing him to pout.

"Hey! I thought we discussed that! I am not a girl, dangit! HEY! COME BACK HERE!" (1)

Still laughing, she left him behind to bemoan the loss of his masculinity as she went to the fridge to dig out some pudding.

Five years had passed since then end of her trials, and Sakura Kinomoto was now sixteen, taller, prettier, and a hell of a lot stronger and more powerful.

Ever since the day five years ago when Syaoran left, she had thrown herself into training with a fervor that surprised Guardians and friends alike. Swordplay, martial arts, magic, she studied it all. And, very recently, she had begun to experiment with the creation of her own cards, much like Clow Reed before her. She currently had two; the Heal, and the Teleport, both of which were extremely useful, though their creation had knocked her out for a week each.

She sighed as she closed the fridge, allowing a bit of melancholy to overtake her thoughts. Despite assurances to her friends and family, she missed Syaoran, a lot. Five years was more than enough time to dull the pain to the point where she could think about him quite easily, but it didn't erase the fact that he had not called, written, or made any attempt to contact her whatsoever in five years.

She still held onto hope though, because what else could she do?

"All right, here's the pudding!" she called, and blinked as her hands were suddenly empty, Kero prancing through the air up the stairs with the pudding held over his head like some sort of victory trophy, crowing about how nothing could stop him from beating the high score now, and wait till I tell Suppi!

Sakura shook her head in exasperation, before heading back outside to make sure there was no damage from the spar.

It was as she was healing some minor gouges and craters in the ground with Earthy that she heard it; the soft flutter of a pair of wings that was most definitely not Kero.

She looked up to see a most unexpected sight; an owl, a beautiful tawny barn, soaring towards her with an envelope clutched in its talons.

'_That's odd...don't owls normally fly at night?'_

Any further introspection was cut off as the owl landed on the fence in front of her with a hoot, shuffling a bit as it flapped its wings to gain balance, before sticking out its leg.

"Well, hello there," she said with a giggle, stepping carefully forward so as not to scare it. "What's a pretty thing like you doing here?"

It hooted again, and if she wasn't mistaken there was hint of exasperation and impatience in that hoot.

"A letter?" she murmured thoughtfully, before stepping forward to untie the envelope from the owl's leg. Absently she noticed the strange texture of the paper, for it was not paper at all, but parchment.

She flipped it over to see the words,

_Miss Sakura Kinomoto  
__431 Hirohana Street  
__The Eastern Edge of the Backyard  
__Tomoeda, Japan_

"That's...oddly specific," she muttered, flipping the envelope again and staring at the badge shaped wax seal, with the emblem of a lion, a snake, a raven, and a badger set around a stylized 'H.' "Stalker, maybe? Another power-hungry magician looking for an alliance? Thought the incident with Rashikar would have finally taught them some sense..." (2)

She was stalling, and she knew it. With some trepidation, she finally slid a nail underneath the seal and opened the envelope, pulling out the first sheet and reading the message printed upon it in green ink with a raised eyebrow.

HOGWART SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

_Dear Miss Kinomoto,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwart School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, located in Scotland. Due to your age and exceptional proficiency in magic, you will be place in sixth year. We await your owl by no later than July 31__st__._

_Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress_

"And that...is oddly vague," she muttered, hearing the owl hoot in amusement. She looked up at it, "They await my owl?" she asked, and it hooted in confirmation—and then nodded at the envelope.

Turning back to it, she was surprised to find another letter within the envelope, this one written in a script that spoke of power and wisdom.

_Dear Miss Kinomoto, _it read.

_My name is Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am sure that you are wondering at the vagueness of your acceptance letter—really should see to changing that—and why a school located in Scotland would be contacting you when you live halfway across the world, in Japan._

_The answer to that, I'm afraid, is far longer and more complicated than is safe to explain in a letter. Suffice to say, we of the Wizarding World are in dire need of your help, Miss Kinomoto. We need the Cardmistress._

_Yes, I am aware of your title and your abilities. Do not worry—very few people know of this._

_If it is convenient for you, I will be arriving later today—July 13__th__—in order to more fully explain things. Please send your reply with Orly—the owl—and do not worry about replying to the acceptance letter just yet, at least not until after you are aware of the full story._

_Wishing you the best, and hoping to see you soon,_

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore  
__Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards._

Sakura stared at the letter. So, news of her powers had even reached across the world, apparently. Maybe that was why she had had so many challenges...

She was stalling again.

She looked up at the owl. "So, your name is Orly, huh?"

The owl hooted.

She smiled. "Well, how about you come inside with me, and we see about getting a reply written for you to take?"

With a hoot of acceptance Orly took flight, only to land on her shoulder moments later. After settling it, he hooted as if to say, "Lead on, girly."

She giggled and led the way inside.

"Kero! Otou-san!" she called.

She heard a distant thump, a curse, and then, "Yes, Sakura-chan? What is it?"

"Can you guys come here for a moment? There's something I need to ask you about!"

A distant confirmation reached her ears, echoed by Kero from upstairs, and she headed into the kitchen to sit at the table. A few minutes later Kero floated in, followed by her father who looked distinctly rumpled, his hair mussed and glasses askew.

"Otou-san?" she asked.

He rubbed his head sheepishly. "I was in my study, looking for a book—unfortunately, your call surprised me and a stack fell on top of me..."

"Sorry, otou-san," she apologized, glaring at Kero as he laughed silently.

"It's okay, Sakura-chan," he said, taking a seat at the table. "Now, what did you need to ask me? And why do you have an owl on your shoulder?"

"Well, first things first. Kero, do you know anything about a school named Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in Scotland?"

Kero looked thoughtful. "Now that you mention it, the name does sound familiar..."

And suddenly, to the confusion of Sakura and her father, he burst out laughing.

"Kero?" she asked.

"'M sorry..." he said, gasping for breath. "I just can't believe that I forgot...that name..."

Noticed their confusion, he elaborated. "About six months before he died, Clow had a vision. He was doing that more frequently, trying to find out as much as he could before he ran out of time. Unfortunately, Yue was very angry at him for this, because each vision sapped more of his strength and shortened his already waning lifespan. After Yue stormed out, still refusing to accept Clow's coming death, I asked him about the vision, and for once he deigned to share it with me. He told me he had had a vision of a grand castle, a school that would teach magic to young children. He said that he saw his heir—you—going there. And then he told me the name—Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I laughed because it was, as I so eloquently put it, named after a pig's skin ailments."

Sakura merely looked at him—and began to giggle. "Now that you put it like that...it does sound rather funny..."

"Yeah, it was. Why do you ask though?"

"Ah, that's where you come in, Otou-san," she said, catching his attention. "You see, I received an acceptance letter from Hogwarts this afternoon—along with a letter from the Headmaster, Dumbledore, stating that he would like to visit us this afternoon in order to explain things more thoroughly. May I send a confirmation, Otou-san?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment, before asking, "May I see the letters?"

She handed them over and he read them swiftly, making a small sound of understanding.

"I see," he said, looking up. "Well, send a confirmation back, saying that we'd like to meet him. I'm not exactly sure about you going across the world for nine months...but it looks like you're needed, and I know I can't hold you back from helping people, Sakura-chan."

"Thank you, otou-san!" she said, circling around the table to hug him. He laughed and patted her on the back, before making a shooing motion at her. "Go, Sakura-chan!"

"All right!" she said quite cheerfully, before darting out and up the stairs to her room to find a paper and pen, Orly digging his talons into her shoulder so as not to fall off.

A few minutes later she was watching as Orly soared off into the sky once more (not before patting him and saying good-bye, of course) holding a reply to Dumbledore-san.

"And now we wait," she said to the empty room, before flopping backwards onto her bed, arms outstretched.

Her hand hit something, and a moment later there was the sound of shattering glass.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed leaping up and kneeling on the floor, trying to gather the shards of the broken picture frame without cutting herself. Eventually they were all in the garbage can, and she ran the vacuum cleaner over the spot as a precaution.

Finally flipping over the picture, she felt her breath catch in her throat.

It was a picture of all of them—Eriol, Tomoyo, her, and Syaoran, the day before Syaoran left for Hong Kong again, standing underneath the Sakura trees in Penguin Park. Eriol was grinning as he pushed his glasses up his nose, and Tomoyo was smiling brightly with twinkling eyes at her and Syaoran. He had his arms around her waist, and she was smiling up at him, eyes bright and happy. His eyes were soft as he looked at her, something she had never seen them do for anyone else.

Unbidden, she felt tears burn the backs of her eyes. She looked so happy, so carefree, unaware of the pain she would feel only a day later when Syaoran told her that he had to leave.

She hugged the picture to her chest.

'_I won't forget, Syaoran. No matter where I am, be it England, Japan, or the edge of the universe. I won't forget these precious memories...'_

She did not move for a long time after that.

* * *

It was some hours later, when they were all sitting in the living room—Toya was at work—when their discussion was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell.

"I'll get it!" Sakura said, bouncing up and practically dancing to the door. She swung it open—and stared.

"Hoe..." she whispered, lapsing back to her childhood in her shock. For standing in front of her, was the strangest man she had ever seen.

He was tall and thin, and, privately she thought, obscenely old. He had silver hair in long beard that reached to his waist and was tucked into his belt, and twinkling blue eyes behind half-moon spectacles. Most odd were his clothes—a long set of purple robes covered in silver stars, and a set of soft leather boots.

And he was chuckling at her. "Hello, Miss Kinomoto," he said. "My name is Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Might I come in?"

"O-of course, Dumbledore-san," she replied, stuttering slightly. She moved aside so that he could come in, please to note that he removed his shoes as he did—he was versed in Japanese customs.

"Otou-san! Kero! Dumbledore-san is here!" she called, before saying in a quieter tone to the Headmaster, "If you'll go right through there Dumbledore-san, you can meet my father and Kero, one of my Guardians. Is there any particular tea you'd like?"

"Any tea is fine, my girl," he replied, twinkling still. "Please don't trouble yourself."

"No trouble at all, sir," she replied with a smile, and set off to the kitchen as he headed into the living room.

As she made the tea, she mused. Dumbledore-san was almost the stereotypical old wizard, much like Merlin in the children's stories. Though she had to admit, he did seem rather...eccentric. At least in his clothing...what Tomoyo would say if she saw him!

The thought of her best friend's reaction to the old Wizard made her giggle.

A whistling sound alerted her to the fact that the tea was done, and she swiftly set the pot on a tray along with several teacups, before heading out into the living room.

The sight that met her made her blink. Her father was sitting on the couch, looking utterly bemused, and Dumbledore-san...was crouched in front of the table, staring intently at Kero, who stared right back. And as she watched, the wizard reached out to Kero...and poked him.

"Dumbledore-san?" she queried, and the old man looked up, looking rather abashed.

"Ah, Miss Kinomoto, I must apologize. I must admit that I was quite surprised when this little fellow spoke to me, introducing himself as Kero, your guardian. I always thought the Guardians were...well...a bit bigger."

"Keroberos, don't you dare bite him!" she warned, as she saw the little plush getting ready to do just that. "I'm sorry as well, Dumbledore-san. Kero is quite sensitive about his size...rest assured, this is only a temporary form. Him being in his true form all the time would cause quite a stir."

"Ah, that makes sense!" he said jovially, before standing and seating himself upon the couch.

"Now, I believe I promised you an explanation, Miss Kinomoto,"

"Yes, an explanation would be quite welcome," her father said with a touch of dryness. "Considering you said that your world is in dire need of my daughter's help."

"And indeed we are, though no one has quite realized it yet. Alas, I'm afraid I have rested too much on the shoulders of one boy...perhaps I should start at the beginning, yes?"

They nodded, and Kero curled up on Sakura's lap, still glaring balefully at the old man.

"Very well...it all started around 25 years ago, when a dark wizard known as Lord Voldemort came to power..."

For the next hour, Dumbledore told them the full story—Voldemort's rise to power, the first war, ad his defeat at the hands of the baby boy, Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived. He skipped ahead eleven years and told of Harry's adventures at Hogwarts, how he had face Voldemort, who was not truly dead, in some form almost every year. And then, with a tired voice, he told them of Voldemort's resurrection in the Graveyard, the following year of disbelief, and finally, the acknowledgement of his return only a few months before. He told them of the Prophecy, but only that it existed, not what it said. He told them of the Order of the Phoenix, his organization dedicated to defeating Voldemort, and how they were slowly, but surely, losing the fight.

"And that is why we need you, Miss Kinomoto. As the Cardmistress, you hold such power that Voldemort can barely imagine. I do not expect you to fight him, however, I must focus on leading the Order and battling Voldemort's forces."

"You want me to protect Potter-san," she said. "By attending your school."

He nodded. "Yes. For I fear that I will not have the ability to focus both on fighting and on protecting him; as Headmaster, there is not much I can do without raising suspicion. But if you were to attend and protect him silently, from the sidelines, in the guise of a student, it would be a great burden off my shoulders. And it would not really be a guise; your Cards are both Eastern and Western magic, yes?"

"Yes?" she replied, though it was more of a question, not sure where this was going.

"And you have trained yourself Eastern magic?"

"Yes..."

"But have you had a chance to study Western magic?"

"No..." she said, understanding filtering into her tone.

"Precisely! This is a perfect chance for you to expand your repertoire in magic—not meaning to sound arrogant, of course, but Hogwarts is the oldest and most premiere magic school in all of Europe."

Sakura hummed noncommittally, before turning to look at her father, a question in her eyes. "Otou-san? What do you think?"

Her father surprised her by smiling. "I think you should go, Sakura-chan. I can already see that you want to; you never could ignore anyone who was suffering. And by the sounds of it, this Voldemort fellow won't just stop with England or Europe. He'll likely try for the world, and he will attack people who can't defend themselves."

"I agree," Kero spoke up, uncharacteristically serious. "And I think Yue would too. To be honest, we've had a few debates on how to get you an education in Western magic, but we could never come up with anything. This is the perfect chance."

"All right then," she said, smiling happily before turning back to Dumbledore, who had an expectant look on his face. "Dumbledore-san...I accept your offer."

He beamed. "Marvelous, my dear girl! And do not worry about being alone—I believe your friends Eriol Hiiragizawa and Tomoyo Daidouji are going as well!"

Sakura gaped. "Eriol-san? Tomoyo-chan? Eriol I can understand...but Tomoyo? She doesn't have magic!"

He twinkled again. "But have you ever tested her for Western magic, Miss Kinomoto? She is a Witch, not a sorcerer...and I'm sure she will be quite powerful as well. As for Eriol, well, he's actually been attending my school for the last five years."

"Five years?" she asked, incredulously. "That means...he would have started attending right after Syaoran left...after the trials..."

She didn't notice the flicker of recognition in his eyes at the mention of Syaoran.

"Well, Miss Kinomoto, I suppose I should be off now. I would offer to take you to Diagon Alley for your supplies, which are on a list in your letter, but somehow I think Mr. Hiiragizawa will be contacting you and Miss Daidouji quite soon, so I won't bother."

Sakura grinned. Eriol always seemed to know everything, much like Clow before him, and this was likely no exception.

"All right, Dumbledore-san. Arigatou for coming!"

"You're most welcome, my dear. I'll see you September 1st!"

And with a loud crack, he vanished, leaving behind three gaping mouths.

"Oh my..." Sakura murmured. Then she turned to her father. "Otou-san, are you really okay with this?"

He smiled. "Of course, Sakura-chan...so long as you promise to write every week."

"Of course! Now I should probably pack...oh boy..."

And she ran off upstairs muttering to herself, Kero floating behind her, leaving behind her bemused father.

"Hm..." he said. "I wonder what Toya will make of this..."

He shuddered.

Toya in overprotective mode...was not going to be fun...

Oh well. Too late now!

And he cheerfully set off to make dinner.

* * *

Upstairs, Sakura had just finished dragging her suitcase out of her closest when the phone rang.

"Hello? This is Sakura speaking."

"SAKURA-CHAN!" came the delighted shriek from the other end.

Sakura immediately held the phone at arm's length, but she could still hear Tomoyo clearly.

"Tomoyo-chan, calm down and stop yelling!

"Sorry, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo said in a softer voice. "But, really! HOW CAN I CALM DOWN WHEN I GET TO GO TO A MAGIC SCHOOL IN ENGLAND WITH MY BEST FRIEND?"

Sakura sighed, and resigned herself to listen to her best friend's ranting.

"...and just think of all the outfits you'll need!" Tomoyo was saying.

Sakura sweatdropped. Even after five years, some things still hadn't changed...then she sighed again.

"Tomoyo-chan, it's a boarding school...there's a uniform..."

"Oh," Tomoyo replied, disappointed. "But what about weekends! You'll need outfits then!" And she was off again. She continued to ramble, until Sakura finally cut her off.

"Tomoyo-chan, I really need to pack...can I call you back later?"

"Oh, all right...ja ne, Sakura-chan."

"Ja..."

She finally hung up, her ears ringing slightly...only to have it ring again a second later. Huffing, she picked it up.

"Hello? This is Sakura speaking."

"Hello, Sakura-san," the voice at the other end said. She nearly fell over.

"Eriol-kun?"

"The one and only, Sakura-san. How are you?" he replied, chuckling.

"Fine, just fine. How are you?"

"I'm okay," he replied, chuckling again. "Always worrying about others, Sakura-san…"

"Har-har," she replied sarcastically. "So, why'd you call?"

"Why, to offer you a place at my house for the next two weeks, of course! I live in England, in case you've forgotten…you can do all your shopping, plus, you get to see me again!"

He said the last part in a voice that obviously said, "How can you refuse an offer like that?"

Then a voice shouted in the background,

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

"And, of course," he said wryly. "Nakuru will be ever so delighted to see you again…I do believe she would adore your help in feeding Spinel sweets."

Sakura shuddered. She had heard stories of Spinel's sugar highs…but still.

"I'd be happy to stay with you, Eriol-kun! But…what about Tomoyo-chan?"

"I'll be calling Daidouji-san too," he assured her.

"Well, in that case, let me ask my father. When will you pick us up?"

"Ten 'o' clock tomorrow, for a noon flight to England."

"All right…"

Covering the mouthpiece with one hand, she shouted down the stairs.

"Otou-san?"

"Hai, Sakura-chan?" he called back.

"Eriol is on the phone, like Dumbledore-san said he'd be...he's offered me and Tomoyo-chan a place at his house in England for the rest of the summer before the school term starts. Would that be okay?"

"That's all right, Sakura-chan," he called. "What time?"

"He says tomorrow at ten."

"All right, that's fine. Give Eriol my regards, would you?"

"Sure, otou-san!"

She uncovered the phone and held it back up to her ear. "Eriol-kun? My father says it's fine. He also said to give you his regards."

"That's great, Sakura-san. And tell him he has my regards as well. So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yup! Ja ne, Eriol-kun!"

"Ja, Sakura-san."

She hung up once more, and then turned around—to be faced with the worst monster in the universe.

An empty suitcase.

"Kami help me..." she muttered, before resigning herself to the inevitable and beginning to pack.

* * *

Sakura awoke the next morning at seven-thirty, as she usually did for training, but that morning she was too nervous to train. She paced back and forth for an hour and a half, constantly rechecking her suitcase, before she heard the tell-tale sounds of her brother and father moving around down the hall. She then headed downstairs to make breakfast.

Her brother was the first to come in, still slightly bleary eyed, grabbing a cup of coffee as he passed her.

"Morning, kaijuu," he said.

"Not a kaijuu..." she said, distractedly and without heat, causing him to look at her oddly. Any questions he might have had, however, were cut off by their father's entrance.

"Morning Toya-san, Sakura-chan," he said.

"Morning, otou-san," they chorused.

"Sakura-chan, are you all packed? Eriol's coming at ten, right?"

She nodded as she set the breakfast down at the table, not noticing her brother listening with growing confusion as he sipped his coffee. "Uh-huh. And the flight to England leaves at noon."

Toya spat his coffee out all over the table, sputtering as he leapt to his feet.

"WHAT?" he roared, causing her to jump. "You're going to _England_?"

She turned to him, quite calm. "Yes, Toya, I am. I've been accepted to a Western Magic school over there, and have accepted. The Headmaster came last night while you were at work and gave us an explanation, and otou-san has agreed.

Now his fury turned to their father. "You agreed to this?" he asked.

"Yes, Toya-san, I did," he replied. "It's a good experience for her...and she is needed. I have no doubt she would have gone even if I hadn't given my permission. Hiiragizawa-san and Daidouji-san will be there as well."

"Besides, Toya, I already told Dumbledore-san, the Headmaster himself, that I would be going."

"The _hell_ you are!" Toya said, slamming his hands on the table. "I don't care how you do it, but you are going to contact them and tell them _you are not going_."

"Toya..." their father said, a warning note in his voice. Toya's anger subsided somewhat, and he flopped back into his chair, running his hands through his hair.

"You're honestly going to let her stay with that Hiiragizawa kid? After what he did five years ago?"

"Toya!" Sakura exclaimed. "Don't tell me you're still on about that? In case you've forgotten, he did that to help me! Without him I never would have unlocked my own magic!"

"Have you forgotten how many times he almost or did hurt you in the process?" he snarled back.

"Toya!" their father said, but it was too late. Sakura had had enough.

She stood, a card materializing in front of her. "Sleep," she said, her voice tight. "Put Toya to sleep until I recall you! SLEEP!"

(She had long learned to use her cards without the aid of the key, though they were far more potent with it.)

Her brother collapsed in his seat without a sound. A use of a Teleport later, and he was in his room.

"Sakura-chan, was that wise?" her father asked.

"Don't worry, otou-san. He just went a little too far—I'll wake him up when we arrive in England, and it's too late for him to do anything."

She looked at the clock and panicked.

"Oh no! Eriol's coming in fifteen minutes! I have to go make sure I'm not forgetting anything!"

She darted back upstairs after giving her father a quick hug, leaving him behind to chuckle.

Fifteen minutes later, at ten 'o' clock on the nose, the doorbell rang. Sakura ran down the stairs with her suitcase (and Kero) behind her, and flung open the door, to reveal Eriol standing there in all his glory, grinning.

"Eriol-kun!" she half-shrieked, and launched herself forward to hug him tightly.

She felt him shaking with laughter as he gently hugged her back.

"I see you haven't lost any of your enthusiasm, Sakura-san," he said as he released her.

She pouted slightly, but then quickly brightened. She then said,

"Before you ask, Eriol-kun, yes, I'm already packed,"

He chuckled. "I can see that," he said, and waved at Kero, who was floating above the suitcase. "Hello, Keroberos. Good to see you again!"

Kero nodded. "Hiiragizawa."

"Well, are we ready to go then?" Eriol asked.

Sakura nodded. "Yup!" Then she turned back into the house. "Bye, otou-san!" she called. "See you at Christmas!"

"Bye Sakura-san!" he called back, and she closed the door behind her, following Eriol to his...limo.

He chuckled at her expression. "It's me, Sakura-san," he said. "Or did you forget?"

She shook her head as she put her suitcase into the trunk, and then opened the door...only to be assaulted by Tomoyo.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" she shrieked.

Damn chuckling Clow reincarnation.

* * *

They arrived at the airport around an hour later, having spent the time discussing the old days, and of course Hogwarts, since Eriol had been going there for five years. He refused to say too much, however, saying, "You have to experience it for yourselves."

Sakura was worried. She knew how long security and such could take, and they only had an hour before their flight. However, Eriol alleviated those worries by telling them,

"We're already checked in; we just have to go through security."

"Thank you Hiiragizawa-kun!" Tomoyo said, excitedly filming Sakura with her camera. "I shall call this, "Sakura at the Airport!""

Sakura sweatdropped, while Eriol chuckled. Again.

They eventually made it through security (with Kero doing his best plushie imitation; the people still looked suspicious) and had their luggage checked and taken, and found themselves outside the gate with twenty-five minutes until their flight would leave.

"Before we go," Eriol said as they sat down in some of the chairs. "There's something I want to do."

"What is it Eriol-kun?" Sakura asked curiously.

"As you are aware, Sakura-san, though Daidouji-san isn't, we are to protect Harry Potter once we get to the school."

"Harry Potter?" Tomoyo asked.

"I'll explain later," Eriol assured her. "However, I believe it would be most beneficial if we were to form a mental link between the three of us, so we could converse without being heard."

"That's a great idea, Eriol-kun," Sakura replied. "Ano...how do we do that?"

He smiled. "It's actually quite easy. We can do it right here. Give me your hands."

The three of them joined hands, and he said, "Now focus on let your magic flow between all three of us, like a river. I'll help you, Daidouji-san, since you can't quite control yours yet."

Soon Sakura could feel a mixture of blue, purple, and pink flowing between, them, and as she focused, she distantly heard Eriol begin to whisper, (3)

_Iris, Goddess of Commication  
__We beseech to you now  
__Let an unbreakable bond be formed  
__So that words may be said unheard  
__Let these three minds be bonded forevermore  
__We beseech you now—  
__Forge the bond_

There was a moment of silence, and then a voice echoed in their minds, spoken by a divine force.

_The bond has been forged._

And then a much more familiar and much more ordinary voice spoke.

'Well, what do you think?'

'Eriol-kun?' Sakura thought.

'Hiiragizawa-san?'

There was a vague feeling of amusement. 'Who else?'

'Amazing!" Tomoyo thought, Sakura quick to agree.

Switching back to speaking, Eriol said, "Now we can speak to each other no matter where we are at Hogwarts, and no one will be the wiser."

Any other conversation was cut off by a voice echoing through the terminal.

"Flight 2189 from Tokyo, Japan, to London, England is now boarding. If all first class passengers would please come forward at this time..."

The message was repeated in several different languages, but Eriol was already standing, gesturing for them to follow him.

"That's us," he said, and they moved towards the ticket counter.

A little while later, they were seated in the plush first-class seats, with Sakura at the window, Eriol in the middle, and Tomoyo on the aisle.

The plane pulled out and the usual announcements were made, and fifteen minutes later they were in the air, rising above the lights of Tokyo.

Sakura gazed out of the window in a childish delight, watching as the ground fell further and further away until they finally broke through the clouds and into bright, warm sunshine.

'_So pretty...' _she thought. '_The clouds and the sparkling blue water and the pretty blue sky...all...so...pretty...'_

She soon fell asleep, much to the amusement of Eriol and Tomoyo

Tomoyo turned to Eriol, her eyes a bit troubled and sad. "Hiiragizawa-san..." she started.

"No need for such formalities, Tomoyo-chan," he replied. "You may call me Eriol-kun. What's on your mind? From the look of your eyes, it's not good."

She shook her head. "It's not. Eriol-kun...you haven't done it yet...but please, don't mention Li-kun to Sakura-chan."

"Why ever not?" he asked, though he already had a sneaking suspicion.

She sighed, one of her hands coming up to fiddle with her hair. "After...after he left, it wasn't good for her. She was so depressed for so long...weeks on end went by, and we all thought that we were going to lose her. Then, inexplicably, she got better. She smiled, she laughed, she participated at school, and she threw herself into training with a fervor that surprised even Yue. And eventually...we saw what she was doing. She was trying to forget, doing anything to forget. And we did nothing to stop it...because anything was better than how she was before. However, we've learned not to mention him...because she won't cry, she won't break down...she'll just close off, and train herself nearly to death until she finally comes back out of it. So please...don't. Over time, she's gotten better...she mentions him now and again on her own, says that five years is enough time for the pain to dull...but I'm afraid. I'm afraid of what will happen if you say something. And he hasn't called or written a single time..."

Eriol was shocked. Glancing over his shoulder at Sakura, who was sleeping peacefully, he found it hard to believe that this cheerful teenager was capable of such sadness.

"I promise I won't say anything, Tomoyo-chan," he said softly. "But somehow, I think that I won't have to...not after this year..."

Noticing her looking at him with confusion, he hastily corrected his mistake.

"Ah, ignore my ramblings, Tomoyo-chan. I often say random things...comes with the territory of being a reincarnation, you know."

And with that he turned and pretended to go to sleep—not fooling Tomoyo for a moment, only fueling her suspicions.

But right now, she was too tired to be suspicious. So she let it go and eventually drifted off to sleep, as well.

* * *

Meanwhile, several hundred miles away, in an airport in Hong Kong, China, a certain amber-eyed, chocolate haired teenager was also waiting for a plane, his dark expression scaring away all of the people near him.

In reality, the only emotions he was feeling at that moment were weariness, bitterness, and sadness.

'_Another year away from Hong Kong...' _he thought. '_Another year away from Sakura...'_

Suddenly, he felt a strong pulse of magic, several hundred miles away. Someone was calling upon Iris, the Goddess of Communication.

Tuning into the magic, he caught the last words of the chant.

'_Let these three minds be bonded forevermore  
__We beseech you now—  
__Forge the bond'_

Hmmm. Someone was forming a mind-link…and he only knew of two other people who could do so.

Hiiragizawa...and Sakura. Within the last remnants of the spell, he could have sworn he felt Sakura's aura...but he swiftly squashed those thoughts.

'_Shut up, Syaoran. You're only making it harder on yourself. There's no point—it's not her.'_

He stopped thinking about the spell entirely as the announcer called out his flight.

"Flight 2586 from Hong Kong, China to London, England is now boarding. We ask that all first class passengers please come forward at this time..."

He stood and made his way to the ticket line, his expression still making people give him a wide berth.

Twenty minutes later, his place was in the air. His last thought before drifting off to sleep was,

_'I will always love you, Sakura, no matter how far away I am.'_

-fin-

(1) –Chan is a suffix normally used for girls and extremely cute things. As we know, Kero is a bit sensitive about his plushiness...and is most obviously not a girl, thus I decided that he eventually protested being called –chan.

(2) Any of you who have read my CCS story _Sea Glass: The Broken Memories_ will recognize Rashikar. I needed an evil sounding name: deal with it.

(3) Iris is the Greek Goddess of Communication and probably something else that I can't remember. I tried to find a Japanese one, but I gave up pretty quick. If anyone knows, tell me.

IMPORTANT NOTE: From now on, so I won't have to repeat myself, double quotes are speech, single quotes are mind-link, and single quotes in italics are thoughts.

And here we have yet another rewritten chapter! Yes, parts of it are merely copied over from the original, mostly certain conversations and little scenes that I didn't want to give up, but I actually _retyped_ the _entire thing_. So here you have it. One rewritten, less confusing, less cliché first chapter, with a bit of Harry to add spice! I've decided that Harry will be much more cynical and hateful of the burden put upon his shoulders, and much better than the wimpy him we see in the series. 'Cause let's face it—he _is_ wimpy. Damn hero complex...

I doubt any of you even know that these rewrites are up yet, because it doesn't send alerts for replaced chapters...why am I writing thing?

Anywho, see ya on the flip side...of Chapter Two!

CIAO!  
—Erin

DISCLAIMER: I hold no claim to Harry Potter, Cardcaptor Sakura, or any other recognizable works within this piece of fiction. The plotline and the epic thingy at the beginning that I have no name for, however, are mine.


	3. New to the World

SONG of the E c l i p s e

SONG of the E c l i p s e

Author's Note: Hey! I'm back, finally, with Chapter Three of Song of the Eclipse: New to the World. I hope you enjoyed Chapter Two; thank you all for the fabulous reviews. Well, read and enjoy. This is the chapter for the Hogwarts Express and the Sorting. Lot's of SxS, hopefully. Onwards! I might mix in some Tsubasa: RC…I LUFF FAI SO MUCH!!!!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura, or Harry Potter, or Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. I WISH!

Chapter Three: New to the World

The last week-and-half in Diagon Alley went by quickly. Sakura and Syaoran were inseparable, making up for lost time.

Every day was spent training, learning wizard's magic from Eriol, and wandering through Diagon Alley with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. (The former still disgruntled at Syaoran. They still think he's going to hurt Sakura.)

Hermione instantly took a liking to Eriol, and they spent hours talking about obscure subjects, whom the others had never even heard of, much less knew anything about.

But, what Sakura and Syaoran liked to do most was slip out of the magical world and into muggle London, wandering the streets without a care in the world. Eriol had added Syaoran to their mind-link, so they could talk without attracting attention.

Finally, the day of September 1st came. The morning dawned bright and clear, and a breeze with a distinct scent of fall blew through London as the seven friends prepared to go to King's Cross.

All except for one certain emerald-eyed girl…who was remaining stubbornly asleep.

"SAKURA!" Syaoran yelled for the fifth time, banging on her door. "We're going to be late!"

There was no response. Finally, sighing, he brought out his sword, calling,

"You brought this on yourself, you know!" And then, pulling out an ofuda, he yelled,

"I summon the water dragon!"

There was a loud splash from inside the room, and an even louder THUMP. Then…

"HOEEEEEEE!!!!! Syaoran, what did you do that for!?"

"Because if you're not out here in ten minutes, we're going to be late!"

"Hoe!" There was the sound of several loud thumps, which he guessed was her tossing supplies, into her trunk. Then he heard the call of,

"Watery! Bubble! Windy!"

Moments later, the door opened to reveal one very awake Sakura, dress in a navy knee-length-skirt, a halter, white sandals, and her Hogwart's robes, dragging a trunk and an owl cage behind her.

"What'd you do?" he asked.

"I took a shower without stepping near the bathroom," she giggled. "And I am so going to get you for the Water Dragon thing later…just you wait…"

He grinned.

"You'll have to catch me first!" he said, and, placing a kiss on top of her head, darted down the stairs with her running after him, yelling about revenge.

He skidded to a stop in front of the others, who were waiting impatiently outside the door.

"Is she awake yet?" Eriol asked. Then he spotted Sakura running through the pub, her stuff behind her.

"Guess so…" he muttered.

"Arigatou for waiting," Sakura gasped, finally stopping in the doorframe. "Sorry I'm late…are we ready?"

"Yes," Hermione said, and, with that, they all headed for the two cabs that were waiting for them.

In the first one was Sakura, Tomoyo, Syaoran, and Hermione, and in the second were Eriol, Ron, and Harry. The latter two were quietly fuming; they had wanted to sit in the same cab as Sakura. But they supposed sitting with Eriol was just as good…because they could influence him onto their side.

Almost immediately after the cab started moving, they lit into him. Harry started with,

"Eriol, you /know/ how cold Li is at school. How can you honestly think that he won't hurt Sakura? That he's the best person for her?"

Eriol simply chuckled.

"Harry-kun, Harry-kun, Harry-kun," he tsked. "I have known those two since they were eleven, and even before they knew it themselves, I knew that they were destined for each other. He told Sakura that he loved her, and then he left before she could tell him that she felt the same."

"Then he came back, and Sakura almost lost his love forever due to a certain…incident. Then she told him about her feelings, and he left again for Hong Kong. Sakura's heart has been broken for the past five years, without any letters or phone-calls, and now it's finally starting to knit itself back together. Those two are soul-mates, no question about it. So, yes, I do honestly think he won't hurt her. He would die before he did that again."

Ron and Harry sat in silence, stunned by Eriol's revelations. Then Ron said weakly,

"But what about at school? How do you explain that?"

Eriol chuckled once more.

"Four words; his love for Sakura. She's the one who softened him in the first place, and as the time without her lengthened, he went back to being cold. He refused all dates because of her, even though he was unsure whether she loved him anymore. But he held on to hope. And now they're together again.

And there was nothing more to say.

Meanwhile, in the girl's cab plus Syaoran, a similar story was being told by Sakura, except she had put the Silent on Syaoran so that she could tell the whole, unabridged story without him hearing…the parts he didn't need to hear. Mainly, her depression.

When she was finally done, Tomoyo and Hermione hugged her, Hermione utterly shocked at the story.

"You're extremely brave, Sakura," she whispered. "I don't think I could have made it through something like that."

"Arigatou, Hermione-chan," she said. Then they were forced to break apart, and Sakura to recall the Silent, for they were at King's Cross.

A few minutes later, they stood before platforms nine and ten, staring. Sakura said,

"Where's Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters?"

"It's the barrier between the platforms," Hermione replied. "You have to run through it."

"Hoe?" Sakura said, shocked.

"It's true, Sakura-san," Eriol added. "I'll go first, if it'll make you feel better."

And, with that, he grabbed his trolley and leaned against the barrier…and he was gone.

"Hoe?" Sakura shrieked, causing people to look at her oddly.

Hermione was the next to vanish, then Syaoran, and, finally, Sakura nervously pushed her trolley up next to the barrier, leaned against it…and sank through, feeling like she was falling through water.

She toppled out the other side, into the waiting arms of Syaoran. She quickly righted herself, and looked around to find herself on Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, with a bright red train sitting on the tracks, pouring steam.

"Wow…" Sakura and Tomoyo whispered.

"We had better hurry…" Hermione said. "Otherwise we won't find good seats…preferably as far away from Malfoy as possible. And the train is leaving in three minutes.

And so they lugged their things onto the train, and soon found a compartment near the middle of the train. After storing their stuff on the racks, Hermione and Ron set off for the prefect's carriage, saying that they'd be back later.

Harry sat by the window, across from Sakura, who was already starting to look drowsy. Moments later, she was asleep. Meanwhile, hidden from his ears, a conversation was going on…

'I'll remind Sakura of this when she wakes up,' Eriol thought. 'But, remember; we're supposed to keep the fact that we are sorcerers a secret for as long as possible.'

'No duh, Hiiragizawa,' Syaoran replied.

'Of course, Eriol-kun,' Tomoyo said, elbowing Syaoran. 'We'll remember.'

Syaoran just grumbled, and broke the connection. Meanwhile, with Sakura…

**Dream**

_It was the same dream as before._

_She was standing in a mist covered field, unable to see anything but the grass below her feet. Then the voice whispered,_

"_Give me the Cards, and the book."_

"_No," she said. "NO!"_

"_Yes, Card Mistress, you will," the voice said, with a hint of amusement._

_Then there was that dark shape, and she turned and ran once more…only to trip. Trembling, she turned; ready to see Syaoran's dead form once more._

_She shrieked. It wasn't Syaoran._

_It was Tomoyo._

"_NO!" she screamed again, and the field faded once more in a burst of golden light. Then there was blackness. And then…nothing._

**End Dream**

She awoke to someone shaking her, and, distantly, she heard her name.

"Sakura! Wake up! SAKURA!"

Jolting upright, she looked around too see all her friends, looking at her with expressions of concern…and nervousness.

"Hoe…" she murmured, and then began to sob uncontrollably.

Syaoran enfolded her in his arms, murmuring in her ear.

"Shhh…it's all right, Ying-fa. Why are you crying?"

"Tomoyo-chan…" she whispered.

"What about me," Tomoyo asked, though she had a pretty good idea what had happened.

Sakura shook her head, and forced herself to stop crying.

"Sakura-san…was it the dream from before?" Eriol asked.

"What dream?" both Harry and Syaoran asked at the same time.

Sakura shook her head again. Syaoran didn't need to know, and neither did Harry.

"Nothing," she said, smiling. "I'm fine now…anyways, does anyone have any food? I'm starving."

Both boys looked at her suspiciously, but decided to let it go.

"The cart should come by soon…" Harry said, and at that moment, the door opened, revealing the cart lady.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked with a kind smile.

Together, they ordered some of everything, and, soon, they were munching happily. Except for Sakura.

She was staring at a package marked, "Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans."

Gingerly, she reached in and pulled out a bean, but, before she could eat it, Harry said,

"I'd be careful if I were you, Sakura. They seriously do mean, 'every flavor.'

"Hmmm…" she murmured, and closed her eyes for a moment. Then she snapped them open, and smiled. "It's okay. This one is safe."

And she popped it into her mouth.

"Cherry," she said, when she had swallowed.

Harry gaped.

"How did you do that?"

"Himitsudesu," she said. "It's a secret."

Finally, Harry closed his mouth, just as Ron and Hermione walked in the door, looking frazzled. Ron threw himself down beside Harry, while Hermione sat next to him.

"How'd it go?" Harry asked.

"Horrible," Ron moaned. Hermione, however, was more detailed.

"There was a third year throwing a Fanged Frisbee down the corridors, Fred and George set off a dung-bomb in someone's compartment, and a fourth year was hexed by…"

"Malfoy," Harry finished.

"Anyways," Hermione said, turning to the others. "I think you all had better change. We're going to be at Hogwarts in about twenty minutes."

They all agreed, and the girls forced the boys into being the ones to go to another compartment. But, just as Syaoran was about to open the door, it banged open again, to reveal none other than…

Malfoy.

The blonde Slytherin looked around for a moment, and then sneered.

"Well, Potter, looks like you have some new mudblood friends. You never could stay away from them, could you?"

Hermione's face went white, and Ron went for his wand. But Sakura stopped him, one arm thrown out, as she calmly said,

"If you have something to say to my friends and me, perhaps to should say it to our faces, hmm?"

Malfoy spluttered for a moment, and then regained his composure with something of a leer.

"Well, I certainly didn't mean to offend _you_," he said. "What's a pretty girl like you doing hanging out with trash like this? I think you should come with me to my compartment…you'll find it much more to your tastes."

(A/N: Have I covered all the HP/CCS crossover clichés yet?)

He made to grab Sakura's wrist, but Syaoran stepped in front of her, arms spread wide in a defensive stance.

"Stay away from her, Malfoy," he growled. But the boy just smirked.

"Well, Li. I see you finally got yourself a girlfriend. But you'll probably ditch her, just like you did all the others, yes?"

Now, Malfoy had completely made this up, but he didn't care. He had seen how much the two cared for each other, and he wanted to break it up.

Sakura looked up at Syaoran, shock and disbelief in her eyes.

"All the others…Syaoran-kun, is this true?"

"Of course not!" he replied. "Malfoy is just being an idiot, like usual."

"Oh, sure," Malfoy scoffed, enjoying every minute of this. "What about Kristina Cleone? And Mary-Anne Watson? And…Alina Gladrin, was it?"

"That's a lie and you know it, Malfoy," Syaoran snarled. Turning to Sakura, he whispered desperately, "Sakura, you know I would never betray you. Are you really going to listen to this scum?"

But Sakura had heard enough. Turning, she grabbed her robes, and then turned and pushed past Malfoy out into the corridor. They could hear her crying.

Syaoran turned to Malfoy, and shoved him out.

"Get away from me, Malfoy. And never come back." And he slammed the door in the blonde boy's face.

Sinking onto the seat, he buried his face in his hands. The others were in shock. And no one noticed that Hermione was gone.

-x::x-

Sakura ran blindly through the train, tears blurring her vision. She murmured 'sorry,' every five seconds as she crashed into someone, but kept going.

Finally, she found an empty compartment at the far and of the train, as far away as she could get. She changed into her robes, and then collapsed onto the window seat, too exhausted to cry. She was numb.

_"So it was all al lie. Syaoran never loved me. Even if he did, he gave up. Five years was too long…"_

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice the opening of the door until someone sat beside her.

It was Hermione.

"Sakura, are you all right?" the girl asked.

In answer, Sakura hugged Hermione tightly, whispering,

"Hermione-chan…he doesn't love me. It was all a lie."

Gently, Hermione pushed her away, and said,

"Sakura, I know for a fact that that's not true. Syaoran loves you very much. That's why Malfoy made that lie up…because he was jealous. In the five years Syaoran has been at Hogwarts, he's never accepted a single date…he always said that he had a girlfriend back in Japan. And I know this is true…because…because I asked him out once, too. And he said no."

Sakura simply stared at her friend, joy growing slowly in her heart.

"R-really?" she asked.

"Really," Hermione replied, smiling. "Now, come on. We should get back to the compartment before the others start to worry too much."

Sakura nodded, and they began the trek back to the other end of the train.

Finally, the arrived at their compartment, opening to the door to Eriol saying…

"…and Chiharu tried to strangle his again. Thus leading to him not being in school the next day due to throat injuries."

There was the sound of laughter, but it was instantly silence when the two girls stepped back in.

Syaoran stood at the sight of Sakura, and made to move forward, but he stopped, hesitant. Sakura smiled a shy smile, and then she was hugging him, a hug of apology and happiness.

Syaoran hugged her back, and then they sat down next to each other.

The others breathed sighs of relief. Now that that was over, they could worry about the coming feast and such.

Apparently the others had changed while Hermione and Sakura were gone, and since those two were already in their robes, they had about ten minutes to kill before the train arrived at Hogwarts. They were spent laughing and listening to more hilarious stories from Eriol.

-x::x-

The sun had set behind the horizon, leaving nothing more than a pale pink glow, when the Hogwart's Express pulled into the station.

The sound of talking and the rumbling of feet were heard throughout the train as the students disembarked, laughing happily.

The two new exchange students were looking slightly overwhelmed as the masses buffeted them along. Distantly, they heard the shout of,

"FIRS' YEARS, OVER HERE! FIRS' YEARS!"

"Hoe!" Sakura shrieked when she saw Hagrid. "He-he's so big!"

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Eriol, and Syaoran laughed; however, Ron was kind enough to answer her.

"He's half giant, but really very gentle once you get to know him. Just don't get him started on dragons…"

Sakura would have replied, except at that moment, someone called out to them.

"Miss Kinomoto! Miss Daidouji!"

They turned to see a severe looking woman with her hair pulled up in a tight bun, wearing a set of jet black robes and a tall, pointed witch's hat.

They scampered over, not wanting to anger her.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," the woman said, smiling unexpectedly. "I'm Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher, and also the deputy headmistress."

The two bowed slightly, which she was used to, since she had seen it with Eriol and Syaoran.

"Thank-you, sensei," they chorused.

The woman smiled. Japanese students were so polite…

"Anyways," she continued. "You need to come with me. We'll be introducing you separately from the rest of the first years."

With that, she turned and headed towards the large castle in the distance, with Tomoyo and Sakura hurrying to keep up with her. They stared at the castle; it was so beautiful!

On the way, McGonagall gave them the first year indoctrination,

"While you are here, you will be sorted into four houses; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. These houses will become your family, and they will remain so the entire time you are here. There are also house points; triumphs will earn you points, while any rule-breaking will lose you points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will earn the house cup."

She paused for a moment, and then said in a lower voice,

"I know you were not told this in your letters, but there is a dark wizard in this world by the name of…Voldemort. He is after Harry Potter, whom I'm sure you've met. Because of this, one of your duties this year is to protect him. I know you are not a sorcerer, Miss Daidouji, but I want you to do your best to protect him as well."

The two girls were slightly shocked. Why would a dark wizard be after Harry? They pushed that thought aside, though, when the professor led them through a huge pair of oak double doors, into a hall about two times the size of Sakura's house.

McGonagall led them to a small room filled with first-years, all chattering nervously.

"Wait here," she told them. "When I come to get the first years, you will follow out after them, but stay outside the Great Hall until you hear your names."

"Yes, sensei," Tomoyo replied, and the woman left.

The two of them were getting odd glances, probably because of their height. Choosing to ignore it, Tomoyo said to Sakura,

"She talked about houses…I wonder how we'll be sorted?"

"Didn't Eriol tell us something like that, when he was teaching us wizarding history? Ummm…a hat?" Sakura said.

"Yes, I think he did…" Tomoyo replied.

Sakura would have said something more, but at that moment, the professor came back in and ordered them into two lines. As she had told them, Sakura and Tomoyo took their places at the ends of the lines, Sakura on the left and Tomoyo on the right.

They were led out of the room and through the large hall to another set of double doors. When the first years walked through, the girls had a fleeting glimpse of a room filled with boys and girls in robes and hats, before the doors swung shut again. They stood in front of the door, fidgeting nervously.

Both were too nervous to talk, so they simply waited for the signal that they could go in. A man's voice rumbled behind the door for several minutes before, finally,

"…and, on a happier note, I like to say that we have two new exchange students this year, both from Japan. You all gave Eriol Hiiragizawa and Syaoran Li such a warm welcome, and I expect you to do the same for these two young ladies. Please welcome Sakura Kinomoto and Tomoyo Daidouji from Tomoeda, Japan."

Taking a deep breath, they pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

-x::x-

Though they didn't show it, both Sakura and Tomoyo were extremely nervous. Walking through a huge hall of witches and wizard's that are all staring at you can do that.

However, they walked calmly down the aisle, waving lightly to their friends. When they at last reached the front, they bowed slightly to Dumbledore, who was smiling at them. The, at a signal from McGonagall, they turned and introduced themselves.

"Konnichiwa!" Sakura said, smiling. She could see a lot of the bys in the hall looking at her, but she ignored it. "My name is Sakura Kinomoto. It is a pleasure to be here."

"And my name is Tomoyo Daidouji," the purple-haired girl continued. She was getting lot of stares as well. "I am very glad that I was able to be invited to your school."

Introductions over, McGonagall walked up with a tattered hat and a stool, which she placed upon the podium before taking out a scroll and calling,

"Daidouji, Tomoyo."

Tomoyo gently sat on the tool and placed the hat on her head. Suddenly,

"My, my, another transfer student."

"A-ano, who is this?" she thought nervously. Was she crazy?

"No, you're not crazy, my dear," the voice said. "I am the sorting hat; I see your thoughts so that I can determine where you go. Any special preferences?"

"Whatever you think best, Hat-san. Though I would very much like to be with Sakura-chan…or…"

Here she blushed.

"E-eriol-kun," she thought-stuttered.

"Eriol? You mean the reincarnation of Clow Reed? Oh, yes, a smart one he is…now, let's see. Very kind and open-hearted…oh, and a sharp wit too! A hidden love that you don't even know yourself yet…"

"What was that?' she asked sweetly.

"Nothing, nothing at all…" the hat replied. "Well, with all those traits…you must go in…RAVENCLAW!"

The table third from the left burst into applause, and, much to her pleasure, she saw Eriol there, applauding as well. Taking off the hat, she practically skipped to the table, where she hurriedly sat down beside him.

"Kinomoto, Sakura,"

Sakura walked nervously up to the stool, sitting and putting the hat on quickly.

"There just seems to be no end of transfer students…" a voice whispered, causing her to jolt in shock, though she wisely remained silent. "And the Card Mistress to boot! I see strong magic…great bravery…ooh, a deep love for that Li boy…well, no question about it, you belong in GRYFFINDOR!"

Sakura took off the hat to see Syaoran applauding her wildly, along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. She beamed with happiness. She was in the same house of Syaoran!

Everyone in the hall watched as she took off the hat and made her way to the table…and everyone's mouths dropped open when she went into the waiting arms of Syaoran Li!

Everyone went silent, holding their breath. What would the cold Li do? Would he push her away? Slap her?

None of the above, apparently. Everyone stared, shocked, as the boy smiled warmly and gently hugged her back. The couple didn't notice; in fact, they stayed like that until Dumbledore stood up, smiling widely.

"I know you're all hungry, so, dig in!"

Food appeared on the tables, surprising Tomoyo and Sakura, but they soon realized their hunger and began to eat. While they did so, snippets of conversation floated to their ears-mostly about Sakura and Syaoran.

"Did you see him smile?"

"She's beautiful! How did a jerk like Li get his hands on her?"

"He probably abuses her. Bet she'd go out with me if I asked…"

"Could she be the girlfriend he was always saying he had back in Japan?"

However, one conversation was hidden from their ears…and a good thing too, because the contents of it would make them shiver. One certain Slytherin girl was staring at Sakura with absolute hatred in her eyes.

"That bitch…" she whispered. "Stealing Syaoran from me. I don't care if she's known him all his life, or longer than I have. Syaoran is mine; I'm the one who he's been around for six years, I'm the one who he loves, not her. And if she won't get out of the way…well, I'll just have to get rid of her."

And the girl gleefully began making plans.

-x::x-

(Author's note: Here comes the TRC!)

Some time later, all the plates were at last emptied, and the students were waiting for Dumbledore to dismiss them. However, he seemed to still be in deep conversation with the man who had come into the hall about halfway through dinner.

At last, he stood.

"Welcome, all, to another year at Hogwarts. I know you are all tired, so I'll make this as short as possible. First of all, I'm sure you're all wondering who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is. This year, we actually have /two/ teachers...may I introduce, Professors Yukito Tsukishiro and Nakuru Akizuki!"

The doors opened to reveal the two new grinning professors. Sakura was not too surprised; she kept her shock to a weak "hoe" and a shy wave, which the two exuberantly returned. They made their way up to the table and sat, still grinning.

"We will also be adding a new class this year, in honor of our many exchange students. The Study of Asian Magic class will be taught by…Professor Toya Kinomoto!"

The doors opened again to reveal the onii-chan in all his glory, smirking slightly.

Syaoran immediately hid beneath the table. He was not going to let Toya see him until it was absolutely unavoidable…and even then, he might disguise himself. However, his reaction was greatly over-shadowed by a certain green-eyes sorceress's…

"HOEEE????!!!!" Sakura shrieked, bolting upright. Everyone turned to look at her, including the new professor. "Onii-chan, what are you doing here?"

He laughed, an evil grin on his face.

"Hey, kaijuu! Did you honestly think you could just go off for a year by yourself? After you woke me up, I got in contact with your headmaster guy here…well, I think the rest explains itself."

With that, he turned and headed up to the table, taking his seat quickly. Muttering began, at least until Dumbledore silence it with another announcement, which Syaoran took as his cue to come out of hiding.

"Aside from the usual announcements; the Forbidden Forest will live up to its name, more items have been added to the banned list by Mr. Filch…I have one more thing to say. I Was just informed a short while ago that we have one more transfer student joining us, from a country far away."

Turning to the door, he called,

"You can come in now!"

The door opened slowly, and a figure stepped into the candlelight. As he slowly became visible, there were many gasps. The man had tangled blond hair and blue eyes, a goody smile, and was very tall and thin.

"Everyone, please welcome Fai D. Flowright."

(Author's Note: I should end it there.)

(I really should.)

(But I won't.)

(Because I'm not that evil. xD)

-x::x-

As Fai stepped forward into the candlelight, he felt all eyes on him. Why, of all the people in the group, did he have to do this? Not that he minded…it would be fun! But he would miss Mokona and the rest…oh well. He was the only one with enough magic in the group to go…only he wouldn't be using his magic. He would be using wizardry.

Letting go of his thoughts, he walked steadily through the hall, to the podium, where he sat on a stool with three legs.

A hat was placed on his head, which he found odd, but what he found odder was the voice that came into his head.

"Geez…ANOTHER transfer student…well, well, well! What do we have here? A person from a different dimension? And traveling to find a girl's memories…I see great potential, a painful past…much bravery, too. You remind me of a boy who sat here six years ago…ooh, a dark side too…and a tendency to be witty and annoying to some. Particularly a certain ninja…oh, here's something. A hidden affection for a princess…hmm, you are one of the harder ones to decide. You have a bit of all the houses in you…but, with all that I've seen, better be…GRYFFINDOR!!!"

Fai was left rather confused; how did the hat know so much? He carefully stood and made his way to the table that was applauding wildly. He was only here for the princess's feather; that was it. Once that was over, he could leave.

Suddenly, as he was scanning the table for a place to sit, something made him stop in shock.

It was the princess! What was she doing here?

Then he remembered Yuko's words…'People you know, people you've grown up with…they've developed under completely different circumstances on other worlds.'

This must be another Sakura-chan. Closer examination revealed that it wasn't her. Coming to a decision, he decided to sit next to her.

"Excuse me, may I sit here?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She looked up in surprise, and then her expression softened.

"Of course," she replied, scooting over to make room. "We don't mind; right, Syaoran?"

Syaoran?

Sure enough, a Syaoran look alike was sitting across from the girl.

"Fine," he said.

Fai sat down, grinning. This was going to be an interesting year!

-x::x-

When everyone was finally settled, Dumbledore stood once more.

"Well, now it is time for bed. The prefects will lead you to your dormitories; chop, chop!

Everyone stood, and slowly made their way out of the hall, chattering animatedly. The Gryffindors were led by Ron and Hermione up several flights of stairs, until at last they came to a portrait of a lady in a pink dress.

Sakura and Fai, the two newest "other" magical beings to the castle, were in aura overload; everything around them was magical. Sakura looked close to passing out, and Fai wasn't much better. Sakura was too tired to even say "hoe" when the portrait asked for the password.

"Starlight," Hermione said, and the portrait swung open. Everyone clambered through, and, after several goodnights, they separated into their dorms, Hermione taking the lead to the sixth year girl's dormitory.

All the girl's were talking as they got ready for bed; mostly about Fai.

"He is so cute!" Lavender Brown squealed.

"Where do you think he comes from?" Parvati Patil asked.

They continued tittering; however, Sakura was too tired to listen. She climbed into her bed, not bothering to unpack at all.

"Night' Hermione-chan," she called sleepily.

"Goodnight, Sakura," the girl replied from the bed next to her.

She was met with a quiet snore; the Japanese girl was already asleep.

Sakura's last thought before drifting off to the world of dreams was, predictably,

_'Hoeee…'_

_TO BE CONTINUED…_

Author's Note: And that's the end of Chapter Three: New to the World! I hope you liked it, and that its length made up for my long absence. Lot's of SxS fluff, ne? I'm sorry about not having any Tomoyo after the sorting; I had too many ideas to sort through. Don't worry, Tomoyo-chan; I'll put you in the next chapter.

OMG, FAIIIII!!!!! I told you there would be a TRC crossover, didn't I? I have a totally weird thing planned for the feather…can you guess? Anyways…hmmm…anything else to say? Not really. As for the Slytherin who's out to get Sakura, just wait and see? All of you who are waiting for Snape's reaction to Toya…well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Until chapter four, au revoir!

-Signing out,

Erin

P.S: I am looking for a beta for my stories. Anyone who's interested, please PM me.


	4. A Day to Remember

SONG of the E c l i p s e

Author's Note: Well, I'm back with chapter four; the chapter for the first day of school. I know this story has been very cliché so far, but trust me; it's going to get a lot more interesting. On a side note, Fai is not a vampire in this story, so he still has all his magic. Despite his promise, I might have him use magic once in a while…because his is so cool!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura, Harry Potter, or Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE.

Chapter Four: A Day to Remember

The next morning dawned clear and sunny, a day that no one wanted to spend inside, taking classes. However, in the sixth year girl's dormitory of Gryffindor, one girl completely missed the natural beauty…

"Sakura, wake up!" Hermione said for the tenth time, shaking the exchange student. "You're going to be late!"

"Five more minutes, Kero-chan…" the girl muttered.

"Is she still not awake?" said a voice from beside Hermione, and the girl shrieked, turning to see Syaoran standing there.

"How…how did you get in here?" she said weakly. He didn't answer, and merely raised his hands. That was when she noticed he was holding a bucket of water. Before she could stop him, he turned it upside down, emptying the contents on top of Sakura's sleeping form.

"HOEEEE!!!!" Sakura screamed, bolting upright. "Syaoran, why?????"

"Because, silly, you're going to be late for your first day of class!"

"Ahh!" she half-shrieked, and bolted out of bed, grabbing a jumble of clothes from her trunk as she bolted for the bathroom. Though nothing could be heard, Syaoran distinctly felt the aura of three Sakura Cards…

Five minutes later, Sakura came out, dressed and clean. Hermione looked at her suspiciously.

"How did you take a bath so fast?"

"Himitsudesu," the girl giggled, then, grabbing the arms of her friend and her boyfriend, proceeded to drag them down the stairs to the common room.

Ron and Harry were waiting, along with Fai, with whom they seemed to be having a conversation with.

"…really?" they heard Harry ask as they neared them.

"Yes," Fai replied. Then he spotted the others coming down the stairs. "It looks like we're all here…"

Harry and Ron turned, and grinned widely.

"Finally!" Ron said. "I thought you guys were going to let us starve…by the way, Fai here asked if he could join us, and we said yes. That all right?"

They murmured their consent, and the group started down to the Great Hall.

"Harry, what were you guys talking about when we came down?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Oh yeah!" the boy replied. "Fai was telling us that where he comes from, magic is a pretty common thing, so they don't have to keep it hidden. He was also saying that there isn't a ministry, or a school to train them!"

"Really?!" Hermione said, shocked. "But I thought all wizards were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry…"

Fai smiled mysteriously, but said nothing. The three exchange students and the three Hogwarts students arrived at the Great Hall just as the food appeared. Ron wasted no time in stuffing his face, while Harry, Sakura, and Syaoran were a bit more reserved. Hermione and Fai also took food, but the former left hers untouched as she pumped the poor mage for information about his homeland.

"There's not much to tell," he said. "It's rather snowy and old fashioned…we have the occasional problems, but nothing major."

He left out the part about the pit he and Yuui had been thrown in. No one needed to hear about that undesirable part of his country.

She would have said more, but at that moment McGonagall came by with their schedules and everyone became absorbed in reading them.

Their concentration was broken by a low oath and then a moan. They turned to see Syaoran banging his head on the table, while Sakura tried to console him.

"What's up with Li?" Ron asked.

"He has the Study of Asian Magic first thing," Sakura replied.

"So?" Fai asked. "From what I can tell, it's a very interesting class."

"Ummm…" Sakura replied. "Let's just say he and my brother have a history…"

Syaoran stopped banging his head on the table long enough to say bitterly,

"And he's going to KILL me when he sees me. Sakura, are you sure you can't go in first and try to calm him down?"

"As long as you put the emphasis on try," she replied as he went back to banging his head. "You know how bull-headed he is…"

"Firsthand…" he moaned.

The others watched with a sense of bemusement. Surely Professor Kinomoto couldn't be that bad? Oh, how wrong they were going to be…

"Let's go," Syaoran said, standing up abruptly. "If I'm going to die, might as well get it over with."

-x::x-

Syaoran stood nervously behind Sakura as she talked to her brother, disguise in place. If only he could stay this way…

"…you WHAT?????"

The onii-chan's yell cut into his thought. He turned to see Toya standing, red faced and fuming, a vein popping in his head. The rest of the class looked up, shocked by his outburst.

"Yes, Toya, I have a boyfriend!" Sakura yelled, completely unfazed by her brother.

"WHO?!"

This left Sakura completely flustered. She hadn't gotten as far as what she was going to do when it came time to reveal that Syaoran was back.

"Well…umm…you see…I've known him for a long time, and, umm…he's finally come back…"

You could practically see the gears turning in Toya's head.

"You don't mean…"

Syaoran gulped. It was time. Taking a step forward, he let the disguise slide off his face, revealing his amber eyes and chocolate hair.

"Yes. Me."

Toya stared at him, the rage building. Then he let it all out, just as his psychologist had told him to.

"YOU WORTHLESS BASTARD!!!!! HOW DARE YOU COME CRAWLING BACK NOW??? YOU LEFT MY SISTER _FIVE YEARS AGO_ AND NOW YOU EXPECT ME TO ACCEPT YOU AGAIN? WELL, I'VE GOT NEWS FOR YOU! YOU CAN HIT THE ROAD, BECAUSE MY SISTER IS NOT DATING_ YOU_."

He calmed down a little, and started ranting in a slightly quieter voice. The entire class was hung on his every word, and Sakura stood by helplessly. She knew there was no stopping him.

"Do you have any idea what you did to her when you left? DO you?"

Sakura decided that that was a good time to intervene.

"Toya, _be quiet_. You do realize you have a lesson to teach, don't you?"

That calmed him even more, and in a dead even voice, he said,

"Take your seats."

However, the glare he shot at Syaoran clearly said, _"We'll continue this later."_

-x::x-

When the students were finally settled, Toya took his place in front of them, hands clasped behind his back, looking for all the world like a professor.

"Welcome to the Study of Asian Magic. As Professor Dumbledore told you, this is a new class, created for the exchange students. In this class you will learn everything there is…no, you need to know about Eastern Magic. Let me tell you right now, Eastern Magic is absolutely NOTHING like your Western Magic. Don't go trying to make any comparisons; you'll only hurt your puny heads. We'll be learning about Sorcerers, Summoning, Power Sources, Elements, and a lot of other things. Any questions?"

As usual, Hermione raised her hand. Everyone groaned.

"Yes, Miss…"

"Granger, sir. And aren't there sorcerers in the wizarding world? For example, Dumbledore is a grand sorcerer…"

Toya smirked slightly.

"Trust me when I say this, Miss Granger. Your sorcerers are nothing like ours. Any other questions?"

No one else raised their hands, and he smiled.

"Good. Now, for our first lesson, I'm going to let you choose. We can learn about Power sources, Elements, or both combined."

The majority voted for Elements, and he moved on into the lesson.

"Can anyone tell me the major elements of the earth?"

Several hands actually shot into the air, and he picked one at random. Checking his seating chart, which he had just discovered, he called,

"Miss…Brown."

Lavender smiled; she had learned the elements from her divination books.

"Fire, Earth, Water, and Air, sir."

Toya smirked again; this was going just as he had planned.

"While those are correct, Miss Brown…

Lavender preened quietly.

"…those are the Western Elements. And this is the study of eastern magic."

Hermione's hand was instantly in the air, begging to differ with the professor's knowledge.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"But sir, there are only four elements. How could there possibly be more?"

"Well, why don't we let Miss Kinomoto answer that question?"

Sakura sighed, then began to explain.

"In the East, we have five elements, rather than four. They make up the Chinese element pentagram; Fire, Water, Earth, Wood, and Metal. Of course, there's also Air, Light, and Dark. Each of the five elements exerts some force on the others, such as Earth and Wood. Wood exists at the expense of the Earth."

(A/N: Or is it the other way around? I can't remember the sixth manga book…)

Toya nodded, and then turned back to Hermione.

"Does that answer your question, Miss Granger?"

She nodded, and sat back down.

"Now we're going to try a practical lesson," Toya said, and the class instantly perked up. "You are all going to attempt to find your master element. Each person is capable of using all the elements to some extent, but only one will be your strongest. The spell is like this; _elemente revelio_. Partner up, and get started!"

There was an instant shuffling of noise as people scrambled for their desired partner. Sakura was with Syaoran within seconds, and Harry grabbed Ron. That left Hermione with Fai.

With Sakura and Syaoran, it was easy. They cast the spell on each other at the same time, and two figures took shape in the air. Everyone in the class turned to see what element they would be; the unlikely couple.

_"Elemente revelio,"_

A burst of light was all that could be seen in front of Sakura, and then it took the shape of a beautiful woman with long golden curls and a crown. No one else knew what to make of it, but Sakura knew it very well.

"Konnichiwa, Light-san," she whispered, and the figure smiled as it vanished.

"No surprise there," Syaoran commented. "You're a Light element."

"Hai, but what are you?" Sakura asked as she stared as the blurry shape in front of him. It seemed to be having trouble deciding. Finally, it took a form, and it was just what Sakura expected.

A fire wolf. He was a fire element.

This caused Fai to pause for a moment. Hadn't Syaoran's Kudan in the Hanshin Republic been a fire wolf?

"Typical…" he murmured as his own element took shape. He gasped.

It was him as a child, emaciated and long haired…or was it Yuui? Either way, half of the apparition was dark, the other half light.

"You seem to be a mix…" Hermione said, as she stared at her element. It was in the shape of a beautiful fairy, however, it was made of earth. "I'm an earth element, I guess…"

With Ron and Harry, Harry was laughing hysterically. Ron's had taken the shape of a gnome…made of air!"

"Be quiet," Ron muttered, staring angrily at his best friend. Harry's element had taken the shape of a tiger, made of fire. It was much like Syaoran's…

Around them, the last of the students were finishing up their elements. Toya then surprised them all with a question.

"How many of you got light or dark?"

The only hands that went up were Sakura's and Fai's, surprising the rest of the class.

"Well," Toya said, also surprised. He had expected his sister, but this other exchange student too? And his had been odd…a kind of cross between light and dark…"You must have very strong souls to be such a powerful element. Light and Dark are the two most powerful elements in the universe…they control Life and Death, respectively."

The students sat in silence, slightly in awe of Eastern Magic. Before Toya could continue, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. There was a great ruckus, as people began to gather their stuff. However, they couldn't manage to escape before Toya gave them their homework; three rolls of parchment on the elements, what they control, and their relationships.

They finally left…but Toya blocked Sakura and Syaoran from leaving. Sakura looked at him, puzzled.

"I'll give you a pass," he said gruffly. "Sit."

They sat, with Syaoran looking rather pale. Toya didn't sit, but merely paced in front of them, sighing. A flick of his wand locked the door and put a sign on it saying, "Do not disturb. Please study the section in your book on elements until I call you in." ~Professor Kinomoto.

Toya knew that his sister and the gaki were supposed to be together. He had always known it, before they knew it themselves. But that definitely wasn't going to stop him from giving the gaki the worst time of his life for hurting his sister.

"Now, where were we?" he asked rhetorically. "Oh, yes. I was asking you if you had ANY IDEA WHAT YOU DID TO MY SISTER WHEN YOU LEFT?"

Outside in the hall, the students who were following his directions jumped, scraping their backs on the wall they were sitting against.

Back inside, Toya would have continued, had Sakura not used the Silent on him. Her face was pale, and she had tears in her eyes.

"Toya, _he does not need to know that._ It's in the past now; why can't you forget?"

He glared at her, clearly saying, 'You expect me to forget _that_?'

She sighed, but didn't reply. This gave Syaoran his chance to ask what had been nagging him since the beginning of class.

"Sakura-hime, what do I not need to know? You know you can tell me anything."

Sakura practically choked. She had almost forgotten that Syaoran was in the room. With no other available option, she grabbed her books and fled, barely managing to grab the pass Toya held out as she flew by.

Syaoran sat there, stunned. Then he turned to Toya, who was surprisingly not glaring at him. Before he could ask, Toya spoke.

"I'm not going to tell you. Find out for yourself; Sakura deserves to tell you when she's ready."

Syaoran took that as a dismissal, and ran out of the room after his girlfriend. Toya sighed as he called his next class into the room

_"Sakura, why won't you tell him?"_

-x::x-

Sakura practically flew to her next class, Transfiguration. She finally stopped outside the door to catch her breath and compose herself. Luckily, this was her one class without Syaoran that day.

At last, she pushed the door open and entered. The entire class turned to look at her, and she blushed. She hurriedly went to the front and gave Professor McGonagall her pass, and then found her seat. Thankfully, she hadn't missed too much.

"As I was saying, class," Professor McGonagall continued. "Today, we are going to be practicing the art of turning a student into a mythical creature. The spell itself determines what creature you will be turned into; to this day, no one has exactly figured out what criteria decide your creature. We only have theories. Here is a list of the creatures, from weakest to most powerful."

Everyone in the class ignored the list, except for the last five creatures, "the most powerful."

_'Let's see…'_ Sakura thought._ 'Centaur, Phoenix, Dragon, Unicorn, and Fairy.' _

Draco Malfoy could be heard boasting that he would be the most powerful creature…but that only made several people burst out laughing as they imagined him in a tiny dress with wings.

(A/N: By the way, I'm sorry for the lack of Tomoyo/Eriol in this story. Trust me, they'll be here later…)

Sakura, not wanting people to think she was bragging, kept silent even though she was sure she would be a fairy, or at least a unicorn.

"Class!" Professor McGonagall's sharp reprimand silenced them instantly. "Now, the spell for this is _mythicaliais morpheus_. I warn you, this is a very difficult spell. You most likely will not get it on the first try. Partner up-no, on second thought, I'll partner you myself."

There was a collective groan, but she took no notice.

"Now, let's see. Brown and Patil, Potter and Granger, Nott and Parkinson…"

Sakura tuned her out, for all of five seconds. Because when the professor finally came to her name…

"Kinomoto and Fluorite."

She felt an intense sense of happiness. She wasn't with a Slytherin! The pairing came to an end, and everyone scrambled to get with their designated partners.

"Hello," she said quietly to Fai, when they were standing together.

"Hello," he replied with a mysterious smile. "Well, let's do this, shall we?"

They positioned themselves across from each other, avoiding miscast spells as they did. Several people around them were sporting weird features already, the result of incomplete spells. All other noise seemed to fade into the background as they stood there, even Professor McGonagall's, "Longbottom, what spell did you CAST?"

At an unspoken signal, it was decided that she would cast the spell first. She closed her eyes and focused, pointing her wand at the mage as she did.

_"Mythicaliais morpheus," _she whispered, and a jet of purple light flew from her wand, tinged with the pink sparks of her sorcery.

Fai stood still as the spell hit him, even as he was lifted slightly into the air by a purple aura. His outline blurred, then swirled as he transformed.

When he at last became substantial again, a beautiful black dragon stood in his place, with wings as dark as night.

Sakura's breath caught. Just who was this mage?

-x::x-

Professor McGonagall was shocked when she came by to check their progress, Fai noted. She obviously had not expected anyone to get it; even Hermione was having difficulty. She cast the reverse spell on him swiftly before moving on, still looking slightly dazed.

"My turn," he said to Sakura, as he shook his head to clear his vision. Being an animal could be disconcerting.

She nodded and closed her eyes, standing perfectly still.

Fai let the magic flow through him, and cast the spell flawlessly.

_"Mythicaliais morpheus."_ A jet of pale blue light shot from his wand, surrounding the girl in a gentle glow. She floated slightly, as he had, her back arched. The transformation complete, her mythical creature was revealed to be a silver unicorn, with white angel wings and a horn of shifting rainbow colors.

Fai smiled slightly. It appears he was right when he said that at the very core, all different versions of a person were the same. Sakura still had her sweet, gentle soul.

Sakura changed herself back, not bothering to wait for the professor. Both of them sat down, the signal that they were done.

Meanwhile, Hermione had finally been able to cast the spell successfully on Harry. He turned into a phoenix, with brilliant ginger and gold feathers.

"Very good, Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall said as she passed by, changing Harry back as she did. Just then, the bell rang.

"All right class, wands away! Your homework is to practice this spell for the next class. I expect every one of you to be able to do it when we convene again. Class dismissed!"

Everyone was gone within moments, heading for lunch at last.

-x::x-

Sakura walked into the Great Hall deep in thought…but that was broken almost immediately by the assault of a certain purple-haired Ravenclaw.

"SAKURA-CHAN!!!!" Tomoyo shrieked, latching on to the bewildered Card Mistress. "Finally! I thought I'd never see you again! Being in different houses…for lack of a better word…sucks!"

Sakura pushed her gently away, spotting Eriol as she did so, chuckling lightly.

"Sorry, Tomoyo-chan. I would have talked to you through the mind-link, but I was really busy…"

"Oh, that's all right, Sakura-chan! These classes are so amazing; I transformed into a unicorn in Transfiguration!"

"So did I!"

Switching to mind-link, she thought,

'People are staring at us; let's sit down, and then we can continue.'

'Hai,' came the chorused reply. They made their way swiftly to their tables. Sakura said a quick hello to her other friends, including Syaoran, though she avoided his gaze.

'So, Eriol-kun, what did you turn into?'

'A dragon.' He refused to say anything more.

'Eriol-kun, you left out the part about how you turned into a lime green dragon…with pink polka dots.' Tomoyo added.

Sakura began giggling…forgetting that her friends were sitting next to her.

"Umm…Sakura?" Ron asked. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she said quickly, then turned to Syaoran. Casually, she asked, "So, Syaoran-kun. What did you have after Asian Magic?"

"Potions," he replied. "Snape-sensei still hates me."

"Prolly cuz you've had such a Slytherin attitude for the last six years…he wonders why you're not in it." Ron mumbled to Harry through a mouthful of food. Syaoran glared at him, but said nothing. He switched to mind-link, talking specifically to Sakura.

'Ying-fa, I'm not going to push you. If you don't want to tell me something, don't. But that doesn't take away the fact that it hurts that you're keeping secrets from me.'

'Xiaolang, I'm sorry. But, this is something that I just…can't talk about right now. Don't worry, you'll find out eventually.'

She snapped the mind-link, and reached out to give his hand a gentle squeeze. He smiled warmly at her, and they went back to eating.

And a certain Slytherin saw the whole thing…and growled quietly.

"He's mine, bitch," she muttered, staring at Sakura. "Get away from him."

-x::x-

Lunch ended, and the new exchange students were surprised to find that they had the rest of the day off.

(A/N: I'm making the next part up. Who cares?)

"We have Friday afternoons off," Harry explained. "We're supposed to use it for homework…but I think Hermione and Eriol are the only ones that do that."

Hermione slapped him on the arm, and Eriol chuckled. Sakura, however, smiled at Syaoran and thought,

'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?'

'Yup. Let's go.'

They darted off, much to the confusion of their friends. "Where are they going?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"Somewhere," Tomoyo replied mysteriously. "Don't follow them; you won't find them."

She then skipped happily off to the library, eager to read up on wizards.

-x::x-

Tomoyo was right; no one would have found Sakura and Syaoran at that moment. For they were back in Japan, in Penguin Kin Park. They sat underneath their tree; a Sakura tree that appeared to be in full bloom, no matter what the season.

Sakura sat at Syaoran's side, leaning into him in bliss, her eyes closed. He had his arm around her, also content.

"Syaoran…" Sakura murmured. "Maybe it's best that you do know…I hate keeping secrets from you."

Syaoran remained silent; he wasn't going to encourage her. Let her decide on her own.

"Yes," she said, and carefully detached herself from him. After sitting in front of him, she took his hands in hers, and closed her eyes.

What was she doing?" Syaoran didn't know. As though sensing his confusion, Sakura said,

"I'm going to show you my memories of the last five years. It's…easier than telling you."

She then went silent as she reached deep inside her mind and threw open the drawer of her depression.

Memories flooded Syaoran's head, flashing past before he could make sense of them. They roiled and swirled for at least a minute before calming down and putting themselves in some kind of order. Then the slideshow began.

_Sakura, crying her heart out as she watched him board the plane. Him, turning to look at her one last time, not even knowing if she loved him_

_A few days later, with her locked in her room, her eyes dead. An untouched tray of food lies beside her._

_Several weeks later. She is laughing, but the sound is hollow. Her smile does not reach her eyes._

_A few months later. Someone mentions his name, sending her in hysterics. She runs home to her solace; the roof. He can practically see her contemplating the jump._

_A year later. She sees an article on him; the future ruler of Hong-Kong. She locks it in her box of precious things, crying._

_Another year. She sits at home, while her friends attend homecoming. Her eyes are blank._

_A few weeks. Boys have stopped asking her out, knowing that she will only go into a brief depression. However, a new boy at the school reminds her of him, and she can feel the carefully closed drawer cracking open._

_She is on a picnic with her friends; those that stuck around after her depression. She smiles, she laughs. She is happy again…sort of._

_The two of them in the Leaky Cauldron, dancing. Her heart is whole again._

More memories flash past, faster and faster, but he still sees every one of them. Then, the connection snaps, and he is sitting in the park again, Sakura's hands clutched tightly in his.

Unbeknownst to him, tears slip down his cheeks, his eyes wide. Sakura watches him quietly. Then, suddenly, he is hugging her, holding her as close as possible. She gasps, and then melts into him.

"Ying-fa…I had no idea. I'm so sorry. I-I don't deserve you. You don't deserve me. I'll never forgive myself…if I had had any idea, I would have come back…"

She silences him with a finger to the lips.

"Xiaolang…it is in the past. There's nothing to forgive…and there's no way you could have known."

He remains quiet, then says,

"Aishiteru, Ying-fa."

"Aishiteru, Xiaolang."

-x::x-

That night, the entire group of exchange students, plus Harry, Ron, and Hermione and minus Eriol and Tomoyo are in the Gryffindor Common Room, lounging around the fire. Well, maybe lounging wasn't exactly the best word; they were lying in a circle, working on the three-rolls-of-parchment homework on elements from Toya.

Sakura and Syaoran were having no trouble, and Fai and Hermione were doing fairly well. Ron and Harry, thought, were stumped. They had the basic info from their textbooks, but that barely filled one roll of parchment. They finally paused to stare at Sakura and Syaoran-who were putting the finishing touches on their essays, FIVE rolls of parchment each.

"How on EARTH are you doing that?" Ron asked Sakura, incredulous.

"Oh, it's quite easy…" she said, then spouted off a long list of facts about elements, relationships…when she was done, everyone, except Syaoran and Fai, stared at her, mouths agape.

"What?" she asked, seeing their expressions. "Oh…did I say too much? Ummm…I'll be quiet now." She rolled her parchment up and snuggled next to Syaoran, who was also done.

"Sakura," Hermione asked. "How do you know so much about the elements?"

"Himitsudesu," the girl giggled, and then stood, yawning. "Well, I'm going to head up to bed. 'Night…"

"Good-night," everyone chorused. She waved to them, kissed Syaoran on the cheek, and then vanished up into the tower.

"I think I'm going to turn in as well," Fai said.

"Us too," Ron and Harry said together. "My brain's too worn out to focus on this right now…" Harry added. They headed up, and Syaoran and Hermione were the only ones left

"Li?" Hermione asked quietly from her chair. He looked up, slightly startled. He had been staring into the fire, brooding.

"Yes, Granger-san?" he replied.

"Ummm…I was wondering…did Sakura tell you the same story she told me? About…the past five years?"

His eyes suddenly acquired a burning intensity; they looked like molten gold in the firelight. But there was also sadness and regret in them.

"Yes," he whispered. Before she could say anything else, he added, "And I swore to her that I would never hurt her again. I intend to keep that promise."

With that, he was gone, up into the Gryffindor tower. Hermione stood there for a moment longer.

"Sakura, you're a very lucky girl, she murmured. And then she was gone too.

-x::x-

Meanwhile, Sakura was in her room, about to get ready for bed. But a certain mage wasn't going to let that happen…

'Sakura-san?' came Eriol's thoughts. She jumped, and then replied.

'Eriol-kun? Is that you?'

'Who else? Anyways, Sakura-san, how about the four of us meet in the Forbidden Forest for a spar? We have to keep up our sorcerer abilities, after all.'

'Hai,' she replied. 'I'll get Syaoran-kun; you get Tomoyo-chan.'

'Right,' he replied, and the connection broke. 'Syaoran-kun?' Sakura called.

'What is it, Ying-fa?' came the reply.

'Eriol-kun wants us to meet in the Forbidden Forest for a spar, to keep up our abilities. Meet me in the common room?'

'Hai,' he replied, and faded out. Sakura made sure she had her necklace and her cards, and then darted down the stairs…only to run into Hermione.

"Sakura?" the girl said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh!" Sakura said. "Hermione-chan…umm…I left something in the common room; I was going back down to get it."

"Okay…" she replied, not quite believing her. But if she was lying, she must have a good reason. "See you in the morning."

"Right," Sakura said, and then hurried down the rest of the stairs. Syaoran was waiting, a slightly impatient look on his face.

"Hermione-chan," she said shortly, before he could ask. He nodded. Moving closer to him, she drew out one of her cards.

"Teleport," she called quietly, and they vanished in a glow of pink light.

-x::x-

They arrived in the middle of the forest, in a clearing created by Eriol. A navy blue dome surrounded it, invisible to every eye but theirs. Trees surrounded the clearing, obviously not native. There were Sakura trees, and several others native to Japan. She smiled; Eriol hadn't left anything out.

Eriol and Tomoyo were already there, talking quietly. They jumped up when they saw Syaoran and Sakura arrive; Sakura was immediately glomped by Tomoyo.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" she said. "I haven't seen you for five hours!"

Sakura sweatdropped, and then gently pushed her best friend away. "So," she said. "Who's going to spar first?"

"How about you and I, Sakura-san?" Eriol asked, smiling like a shark.

Sakura grinned back. "I would be honored, Eriol-kun."

Tomoyo and Syaoran retreated to the edge of the clearing, while the two fighters took up their positions across from each other. They bowed, and Syaoran shouted, "Begin!"

Eriol vanished, and Sakura was left bewildered, staring around the clearing.

"Where'd he go?"

"Behind you," came Eriol's voice, and a jet of blue light hit her, sending her flying. The dust cleared…to reveal the grinning green form of Mirror.

"Very good, Sakura-san," he called. "But you're going to have to do better than that."

"With pleasure," she called invisibly, and suddenly three bolts of silver light were heading towards him, the product of Arrow. He managed to dodge them, but was too late to evade the last projectile she sent towards him; Shot.

He went spinning into a tree, and sank to the ground. Sakura appeared in front of him.

"Do you yield, Eriol-kun?" He smiled at the ground and vanished. "Not yet, Sakura-san," came his disembodied voice.

Sakura murmured a few words, and then her sword was in her hands. "How about a weapons fight, Eriol-kun?" she yelled out.

"Of course," he replied, and then he was in front of her, whirling his sun staff with effortless grace. It was his weapon. Sakura met it with Sword, and they struggled for a moment, before leaping away. They continued their lethal dance, sword and staff meeting every few seconds with a musical clang.

Sakura whirled and leaped around the clearing, dodging and attacking when she could. And then it happened. Her concentration slipped for just a second, and in that second Eriol was behind her, a previously concealed knife held in front of her throat.

"Do you yield, Sakura-san?" he asked playfully. She smiled slightly.

"You know me better than that, Eriol-kun,"

She vanished, and reappeared behind him, sword held across his throat. Just in case, Sleep was held in her hand.

"Do _you_ yield, Eriol-kun?"

He sighed, and then lowered his staff. "I yield, Sakura-san."

She grinned lightly, and banished her cards. "That was well fought, Eriol-kun. You almost had me."

He chuckled in response, saying,

"I underestimated how much you've grown in the past few years, Sakura-san. You deserved that win."

They bowed, and Sakura turned to her spectators.

"Xiaolang, would you honor me with a spar?"

"Of course, Ying-fa," he replied with a smile. "It will give me a chance to see for myself your improvement."

Eriol went to stand beside Tomoyo, while Sakura and Syaoran bowed to each other. There was a moment of breathless silence; even the trees did not rustle, in anticipation. Eriol's voice rang out across the clearing.

"Begin!"

Author's Note: And that is the end of Chapter Four! I know, I'm so evil. I just seriously felt like giving you a cliffhanger for once. Don't worry; their spar will be next chapter, along with a couple more classes and such. This was actually my first time writing a spar…I've written a brief fight scene before, but nothing like this. Stay tuned! It may take a while though; I have issues writing these chapters. Like, I write a little every day. So be patient with me. In the meantime, review!

Ja ne,

Erin


	5. The Wrath of the Wolf

SONG of the E c l i p s e

Author's Note: -bows down- I, Erin, AKA Starwember19, am eternally sorry to every single one of my readers, reviewers, favoriters, alerters, etc., for not updating this story for…well, TECHNICALLY since May 1st, but I haven't post a real update since…I think November 28, last year. So, yes, I am eternally sorry. So…what happened after that fated day of May 1st? I once again fell into laziness, and when I finally decided to actually work on this story…my flash drive vanished. Again. And it STILL has not turned up. But I finally gave up and just decided to retype everything that I had already typed up for this chapter. So, I at last give you chapter five of SotE, and hope you all forgive me.

Shit, it's about to rain here. Seriously, the sky is almost black. Thunder, lightning, wind, the whole shebang. Good thing my laptop runs on its own power…at least until the batteries die…oh god, it's scary out there.

Anyways, the story. I am also sorry for how this chapter ends; you'll understand when you read it. But I NEEDED to put that scene there. I wanted to continue on, but it would be too much for one chapter. But trust me, I have at least HALF of the next chapter planned out. Enjoy!

So…in this chapter, we get the long awaited results of Syaoran and Sakura's spar, a couple more classes, some suspicions on behalf of the Golden Trio (nothing concrete, that happens later…okay, maybe a bit more), the beginnings of the future, and…danaNA…Sakura's attack.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura. Or Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE.

WARNINGS: Language use in this chapter. Not too bad, but I felt it needed a warning. Also, torture.

Chapter Five: The Wrath of the Wolf

"Begin!"

Eriol's call rang out across the clearing, and both combatants vanished, leaving the clearing empty, and eerily silent. Suddenly, though, they both reappeared several feet above the ground, and staff met sword with a loud _clang._ Unexpectedly, Syaoran twisted—and slashed his sword across Sakura, only for her to dissolve into water.

"A water clone?!" he said in disbelief as he landed, water splashing on top of him. "Since when?"

"Since the beginning, Syaoran-kun," a giggling soprano voice echoed around the clearing. "Freeze!"

"Kuso!" Syaoran cursed, as he realized he was surrounded by water. "Kashin Shourai!" Fire erupted, melting the ice, and scorching the ground for a good ten feet around him.

Sakura appeared directly in front of him—startling the heck out of him—and he was barely able to block the sword swung his way. It dissolved back into the star staff, and Sakura called out, "Thunder!"

"Raitei Shourai!" Syaoran countered, and the two attacks met with a large explosion, sending both of them flying backwards to opposite ends of the clearing. When the smoke finally cleared, both were standing, albeit breathing heavily. At and unspoken signal, the both banished their weapons, and began to fight hand to hand.

Sakura launched a punch at Syaoran, only for him to block. Before she could pull away, however, Syaoran grabbed her arm and pulled her past him, effectively pulling her off balance. She countered by somersaulting forwards, and lashed out behind her with a powerful kick, catching Syaoran in the stomach and sending him tumbling backwards. She leapt to her feet, and they continued to fight, neither giving an inch.

Finally, about fifteen minutes later, Sakura was about to drop into a sweeping kick when suddenly, Syaoran put on an extra burst of speed—and then he was behind her, and had her in a head-lock.

"Do you yield, Ying-fa?" he whispered in her ear, his breath making her shiver.

"Not yet," she whispered back, and, somehow twisting out of his grip, she whirled and swung her fist forward, aiming for his stomach. It connected, and he stumbled backward, coughing slightly. Suddenly though, he grinned—and swept his foot across the ground, sending up a massive cloud of dust around them. Sakura instantly began coughing, and held up an arm to cover her face.

_'Kuso! Where is he?'_

She felt an aura behind her—and whirled just in time to catch a kick aimed at her head.

As the fight in the dust continued on, Tomoyo and Eriol watched in amusement, Tomoyo taping with her camera despite the fact that there was only a cloud of dust to be seen.

"They're taking this very seriously, hmm?" Eriol asked her quietly.

"Hai—probably because they haven't seen each other for five years, so they have to get a measure of each other's strength."

"True, true—but I don't think Syaoran's giving his all. He's probably afraid to hurt Sakura…"

Tomoyo giggled. "He probably won't. That girl has trained pretty much every day since he left…"

"Really? Oh—look, the dust is clearing!"

And so it was. When the last swirl of dust finally faded away, it revealed Sakura with her fingers poised above Syaoran's neck, primed to stab a pressure point and knock him unconscious. Syaoran had his foot leveled at her head—very uncomfortable position, mind you—ready to kick.

Eriol stepped forward. "It's a draw!"

Both relaxed their stances and bowed to each other. Suddenly, Sakura wobbled slightly—and Syaoran caught her before she could fall. It was understandable that she was exhausted; their spar had gone on for nearly half an hour, and she wasn't quite used to using so much energy at one time, despite her training. It would get better with time.

"That was very good, Sakura-san," Eriol said as he and Tomoyo walked over to where the other two stood. "I'll have to fight you next time…"

There was a muffled groan from Sakura, as she buried her head in Syaoran's chest. "There's going to be a next time?"

They all laughed.

-x::x-

A short time later, both Syaoran and Sakura arrived in the Gryffindor Common Room, courtesy of Sakura's Teleport card. Eriol and Tomoyo had already headed back to their dorm.

Looking down; Syaoran realized that Sakura had fallen asleep sometime in the last ten minutes. Since boys couldn't get to the girl's dorm, he had no choice but to sit and hope that she would wake up. Gently, he sat on the couch, arranging Sakura so that her head rested in his lap.

Without realizing it, he was staring at her—memorizing every feature. Even now, after weeks, he still couldn't believe that they were together again. Silently, he vowed that he would never be apart from her again. Screw the Elders.

Suddenly, Sakura yawned, and her eyes fluttered open. It took her a moment to realize where she was, before she bolted upright—and fell back again as her head spun, muttering obscenities. (Yes, we all love the innocent Sakura, but she /is/ 16, and you'd swear too if the entire room starting doing the tango after you sat upright)

"I'm not quite sure such language is appropriate for a young lady," Syaoran teased, causing Sakura to jump and whirl—or whirl as much as you could when lying on a couch.

"Syaoran!" she cried indignantly. "Don't scare me like that!" Looking around, she then said, worriedly, "Syaoran, did you carry me all the way here? I mean, even with Teleport, I must have been heavy—"

She went silent as Syaoran placed a finger to her lips.

"Sakura," he said quietly. "When are you going to learn that you are /never/ a burden to me?" (-gags- Drowning…in…fluff…)

Sakura blushed, and then yawned widely. "Mou, I'm so tired, Syaoran-kun. Can't we just stay down here?" Then, she blushed even more, realizing the implications of what she had just said. "I, I mean…"

Again she was silenced by Syaoran—though this time he was grinning, a sight that made her heart stop. "Of course we can. And if anyone says anything, well, they can just meet my sword. (XD)

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and she snuggled into his side. They both soon fell asleep.

-x::x-

Hermione awoke the next morning completely refreshed—and on a mission. Sakura had not come back to the dorm last night, and she was determined to get some answers. She quickly showered and dressed, before leaving the rest of her groaning roommates behind as she headed down to the common room.

The sight that met her eyes made her stop dead.

Sakura and Li were sitting together on one of the couches—snuggling, if she didn't know any better.

What was the word Tomoyo had taught her, after she had heard the girl use it so many times around Sakura and Li? Oh, right—"Kawaii!" she squealed. (OH LORD HELP US.)

But there was still the issue that other's would probably jump to conclusions if they came down and saw this. So she had to wake them up.

Walking over, she placed a hand on Li's shoulder and shook him gently. "Li?"

Amber eyes opened and glared at her. "Yes?"

She gulped. "Ummm…well, it's morning…and if others come down and see you and Sakura right now…well…they're going to, umm, think…things."

Syaoran blinked and looked down, as if only just realizing where he was. He blushed heavily (-insert fangirl squeal-) and gently nudged Sakura with his hand. "Sakura?" No response. "Ying fa? C'mon, you have to wake up...classes start soon…" Still no response.

"Time for drastic measures," he muttered. Then…"SAKURA! KERO STOLE ALL OF THE PUDDING AGAIN!"

This got a response. Hermione stared as Sakura yelped and leapt up, yelling, "WHAT! KERO-CHAN, YOU GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW! YOU ARE IN BIG TROUBLE, MISTER, YOU LAZY EXCUSE FOR A SUN GUARDIAN!!!!"

Then she realized where she was. "…Hoe? This isn't home?" Then…"SYAORAN!!!!"

And so the chase began. And Hermione learned the fine art of…sweatdropping.

-x::x-

Sometime later, the entire group (Sakura, Syaoran, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Fai) were standing in the common room, awake, showered, and ready to go. Sakura was still glaring at Syaoran, who was looking rather sheepish. Harry, Ron, and Fai were looking between the two, question marks popping above their heads, while Hermione shook her head. "Are we all ready?" she asked. They nodded, and they all headed out.

After a short mental conversation, Sakura finally forgave Syaoran, and she held his hand tightly as they walked down the hall.

"So, what classes do you guys have today?" Harry asked the three exchange students.

"Ummm…let me see…" Sakura said, digging with one hand into her pocket. "Got it!" she called triumphantly, as she pulled out her slightly rumpled schedule.

"Let's see…Potions, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Lunch, Free Period, and Divination. Then Astronomy tonight."

They all winced. "We have the same, 'cept for Hermione…but I feel sorry for you, Sakura," Ron said. "Potions first thing, and it's only your second day…"

"What's wrong with potions?" Fai inquired. "From what I can tell, it's a very interesting class…"

"There's nothing wrong with the /class/ per se…" Hermione replied. "It's just…"

"The Professor is an egotistical bastard with a huge stick up his ass," Harry said matter-of-factly."

"Oh, it's not that bad," Syaoran said, exasperated. Snape hate him, but respected him slightly for his talent in potion brewing.

"No, it's worse," Ron added sullenly. "He absolutely /despises/ any and all Gryffindors—we're pretty sure he has it in for Harry—and he /adores/ the Slytherins. Don't be surprised if he springs random questions on you the second you walk in the door."

They were quiet after that.

-x::x-

Breakfast was uneventful, save for when Tomoyo came over and insisted on showing Sakura her newly edited video of the spar from the night before, prompting a round of questions from the other Gryffindors on how she got it to work, and why she had a video of Sakura fighting? (Her answer was she often had Sakura and the others act things out for her, to practice video-taping. This was an old video that she finally got around to editing. All lies of course.)

All too soon, though, it was over, and the Gryffindors and Slytherins began their descent into the dark bowels of the castle. (Bowels. Heh. No Slughorn.)

Sakura shivered at the dark aura that surrounded the dungeons.

They finally arrived at the classroom, the door creaking slowly open. The class entered, quickly finding their seats. The room was dead silent. Sakura gripped Syaoran's hand tightly.

The door flew open again with a bang, revealing their bat-like professor in all his greasy-haired glory. When he spoke, it was practically a hiss.

"I see that all of you have managed to get the required OWL for my class. How you managed this is beyond my comprehension, but I will warn you. This is NEWT level now. You will act appropriately in my class. You will come in, do what I tell you, and leave. There will be no tomfoolery in this class. Any such undertakings will result in detention and removal from this class. Am I understood? (Did I do well on this speech? Had to make it up…)

His gaze moved to Sakura and Syaoran. His mouth curved into a sneer.

"Ah, I see we have a new student among us today. Miss…Kinomoto? I advise you not to become acquainted with the likes of Mr. _Li._ He spat the name like a disease. Then…

"Miss Kinomoto. Tell me, what would be the ideal way to extract the juice from a sophophorous bean for use in the Draught of Living Death?"

Hermione's jaw dropped. That was a sixth year potion! Yes, they were in sixth year, but Sakura hadn't had any training yet! Snape was being a git, as usual.

Sakura was thoughtful. She had read her book, and remembered the page on this potion. It said to cut the bean…she thought, but was that right? Cutting wouldn't help very much…

"To crush it with your knife, sir?" she put forth. Snape sneered. "Correct. It appears that someone bothered to read before coming to this class, unlike…others." This last part clearly directed at Harry, who seethed inwardly.

"Miss Kinomoto, what potion is a boomslang skin and lacewing flies used in, and what properties do they add to the potion?"

Sakura was stumped. She knew the potion, but the properties? No clue whatsoever. She sighed, and spoke.

"I believe they are used in the Polyjuice Potion, sir, though I am unsure as to what properties they add."

Snape sneered once more. "Five points from Gryffindor for your…incompetence, Miss Kinomoto."

Syaoran growled. He so badly wanted to run his sword through Snape at that moment.

'Syaoran, calm down. It's okay. It doesn't matter,' Sakura thought to him. Her only response was a mental growl. She sighed, and turned back to the class.

"Today you will brew a Dreamless Sleep potion. The instructions are on the board. Begin."

Sakura was lost. They were supposed to brew it, just like that? She was beginning to panic when Syaoran came to her rescue. They were working individually, but having a mental link helps…

An hour and a half later, class came to an end.

'Just stir it one more time clockwise and you'll be done,' Syaoran thought.

Sakura did just that, wiping the sweat off her forehead.

"Bottle a sample of your potion and bring it to me for grading. Your homework is a roll of parchment on the origins of the Dreamless Sleep potion. Dismissed," Snape monotoned.

Out in the hall, Sakura tackled Syaoran with a hug. "Thank you, Syaoran-kun!" she exclaimed. "I never would have survived that without your help!"

He smiled. "Anything for you, Ying-fa,"

The Golden Trio and Fai came up behind them. "How'd you do, Sakura?" Harry asked, worried for the girl. It was her first Potions class…

"I did fine, with Syaoran helping me!" she exclaimed. Ron was confused.

"What do you mean, he helped you? It was an individual assignment, and you guys were silent the whole time…"

Too late, Sakura realized her mistake. "Ummm…well, he was…sending me positive vibes the whole time! Yeah, that's it! It's very scary in there…" she looked at her watch. "Kuso! We have Charms, Xiao Lang! Gomen, everyone, ja ne!"

She pulled him off down the hall, leaving behind a confused (and suspicious) Golden Trio and an amused Fai. He knew the other four exchange students had a mental link—his attunement to magic allowed him to sense the thin threads between them that represented it.

"Well, that was weird," Ron said.

"I'm not sure…" Hermione muttered. "Didn't you guys notice how Sakura and Syaoran seemed to be spacing out the entire lesson, like they were listening to something only they could hear?"

"Yeah, you're right…" Harry replied, staring down the hall where Sakura and Syaoran had vanished.

"Oh no," Ron said stepping in front of them. "We are not going after another mystery. Sakura and the others are perfectly normal; we don't need to go suspecting them. Though I'm not so sure about Li…"

"You're just saying that because you think Sakura and Tomoyo are pretty," Hermione accused.

"Well, there's no way girls that beautiful could be bad!" Ron defended. Fai merely shook his head, before heading off down the hall, leaving the trio to their squabbles.

-x::x-

Charms passed quickly and without incident (Though Sakura found Professor Flitwick funny), and soon it was time for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Sakura practically dragged Syaoran towards the room, eager to get there early so they could talk to Yukito and Nakuru—and get good seats. The same was echoed by Hermione who pulled a protesting Ron and Harry down the halls towards the classroom by the front of their robes, following Sakura. Fai strolled languidly behind them, smiling as usual.

Sakura finally reach the classroom, Syaoran panting behind her. She opened the door, and had a split second glimpse of a sun-filled room before she was tackled by a flying blur of brown hair.

"SAKURA-CHANNNNN!!!!!" Nakuru squealed squeezing the life out of the poor Card Mistress. "IT'S BEEN SO LONG!!!! Well, three days…but still!!!!" Syaoran edged in behind her, hoping desperately to escape…

"SYAO-CHAN!!!!!"

Too late.

And so Syaoran was also hit with a flying tackle, and almost suffocated before an exasperated and slightly amused voice behind them said,

"Really, Nakuru-san, do you want to kill them before the class even starts?"

Nakuru pouted, but let go. "You take the fun out of everything, Yukito."

"Yukito-san!" Sakura exclaimed, and ran forward to give the tall man a hug. He chuckled, and hugged her back. "Hello, Sakura-chan. And before you ask, Yue is fine. He wants to talk to you after class, though."

Sakura mumbled something about overprotective guardians, worrying over nothing, which caused everyone to laugh.

It was at that moment that Harry, Ron, and Hermione finally entered the classroom, out of breath. Hermione looked back and forth for a moment, before asking, "Sakura, you guys know the professors?"

"Of course we do!" Sakura exclaimed. "Yukito-san is my brother's best friend, (no yaoi here) and Nakuru-san is his girlfriend! We've known each other for years. (told you. Random, eh? Oh well. Me no likey yaoi.)

"And you used to have a crush on me," Yukito teased, causing Sakura to blush heavily.

The rest of the class began to file in then—they had it with the Slytherins—so they had to take their seats. Sakura grabbed a seat front and center, and Syaoran sat next to her. The Golden Trio sat behind them, along with Fai. Soon, the entire class was there.

"Good morning, class, and welcome to sixth year Defense Against the Dark Arts," Yukito began. Walking out in front of the desk. I'm Yukito Tsukishiro, and this is—"

"Nakuru Akizuki!" Nakuru quipped from her perch on the desk.

"Hai, Nakuru Akizuki. We understand our names are a bit difficult, so you can call us Yukito-sensei and Nakuru-sensei."

"Why?" Malfoy asked snidely.

Nakuru stood and glared at him. "Five points from Slytherin for your rudeness, Malfoy-san. Yes, I know your name. And, for your information, sensei is Japanese for teacher or instructor. And –san is the Japanese equivalent of miss or mister."

Malfoy went silent, though he was quietly seething. How dare this mudblood professor insult him!"

"Nakuru-sensei and I have been going over your teacher's notes from the past few years…well, let's just say it wasn't pretty. We're afraid your class is rather far behind where sixth years are expected to be, so we've decided to allot the first month and a half to get your current knowledge up to snuff."

There was collective groan, though Sakura was relieved. She wouldn't be totally behind.

Nakuru again stood and glared. "You think you're too good for that? Fine. Hmmm…Mr. Finnegan. Please tell me three spells to immobilize an opponent."

Seamus was dumbstruck. "Uh…umm…" (He knows some, but he's in shock a bit)

Nakuru grinned. "Thought so. For your information, an appropriate answer would be the Stunning Spell, _stupefy,_ the Full Body-Bind,_ petrificus totalis,_ and the Immobilizing Spell, _immobulus._ Are you copying this down?"

There was an immediate scuffle as every dug for parchment and quills and copied down her words. Yukito took back over.

"Yes. So, for the first couple of days, we are going to go over the basic history of the dark Arts and such, where the originated, different forms, users, etc. This is what you would have learned in first year, had you had a decent teacher. Next we will move on to dueling, with basic to more advance spells, so that you have the spell knowledge a sixth year should. This is what you would have learned second year and fourth year—Moody was decent though, despite being an imposter. Then we will move on to magical creatures. You have that pretty well covered—Professor Lupin was very good—but it never hurts to brush up. Fifth year for you was mostly OWL review, so there's not much you need to relearn from that, despite your awful teacher. Then we will move on to sixth year material. Understood?"

The class nodded.

"Good. Oh, as a heads up, I will be taking lectures, Nakuru will be doing practical. So, let's start with when the Dark Arts were first classified as such. It began in the late 1600's when a wizard named Falerus Thorning began a series of experiments on human beings…

-x::x-

An hour and a half later, class was over. The students were spell-bound. Yukito was an amazing speaker—he managed to keep the entire class enthralled, despite it being a history lecture. He dismissed them cheerfully, after asking Sakura and Syaoran to stay behind. Harry, Ron, and Hermione left for lunch, leaving the four to reminisce—or so they thought.

When the door was closed and locked, wings surrounded Yukito, opening moments later to reveal the cold, imposing form of Yue.

"Yue!" Sakura exclaimed, leaping forward to give him a small hug.

"Mistress," Yue said stiffly, giving her a gentle squeeze before letting go. Sakura backed away. She had managed to soften Yue a bit over the years, but he would always be cold. She would always be grateful to him for being her rock, though, after Syaoran left…

**Flashback**

_Sakura sat, alone, on her bed in her room, the lights turned off. It was a week after Syaoran had left, and she was still refusing to come out of her room. She had barely eaten or drunk anything in the last week—an untouched tray of food lies on her side table._

_A pillow is clutched tightly to her chest, tearstained._

_"Syaoran…" she whispers, and buries her head once more in the pillow, shaking with dry sobs. She lets out a startled yelp, though, as a pair of cold arms gently wrap around her. She looks up into the impassive face of her moon guardian._

_"Yue…" she murmurs, more to herself than to him._

_"Mistress," he says quietly. He had been watching her, invisibly, from the window, but when he saw her begin to cry again, he couldn't hold back his concern any more. He had slipped in to comfort her, and now she buried her head in his chest, seeking to hide from the world. He let her cry, rubbing his hand in gentle circles across her back. Eventually she stopped crying, and he barely heard her whisper,_

_"Arigatou, Yue-san," before she fell asleep._

_"You're welcome…Sakura."_

**End Flashback**

(Yes, OOC. Who cares? I think Yue would be like that if his Mistress was going emo on him.)

"How're you, Yue? Any problems?" Sakura asked.

He sighed. Always the same question. "I'm fine, Mistress. And you?"

She giggled. "I'm doing great! A bit tired, probably from the new magic, but good.

He nodded. "Well then, if that's all, you should probably head to Lunch, Mistress."

Wings wrapped around him before she could reply, and soon Yukito was standing there. "How'd it go?" he asked. Sakura shook her head. "Same as always."

"Yue's always been cold. It's just his nature," Nakuru said quietly. Then, more exuberantly. "Well, you two had better head to lunch! Say hi to Master and Tomoyo-chan for me!"

The two nodded, and head off to lunch.

-x::x-

Lunch passed quickly, before the six friends headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room for their free period before Divination. Sakura had passed along Nakuru's greeting to Eriol and Tomoyo—who insisted on glomping her.

They all lounged around the fire, Ron and Harry playing Wizard's chess—which Sakura found interesting, but violent. Hermione was working on homework—as usual—Fai was reading, and Sakura and Syaoran were simply sitting next to each other, enjoying each other's company.

"Hey, Harry?" Sakura called.

"Yeah?" he replied, looking up from the game—he was losing miserably.

"What's Divination like?" she asked. Ron and Harry exchanged glance.

"Boring," they replied in unison. "The teacher, Professor Trelawney, is a complete and utter fraud who couldn't predict her way out of a paper bag. She's only had maybe two real predictions in her life." Hermione added.

"She knows her field, but can't practice it to save her life?" Fai asked. They nodded.

"Well, this should be fun," Syaoran said.

-x::x-

The first thought on Syaoran and Sakura's mind when they climbed up the ladder into the Divination classroom, _'Kami, I'm going to suffocate!'_

The room was dark and musty, filled with mismatched, cramped chairs and desks, and a sickening smell of incense. The pair chose a table as far back as they could—Fai joined them—and Harry and Ron sat next to them at another table. Hermione had Ancient Runes that period.

Sakura could feel the aura of the Professor hiding in the corner, and so could Syaoran—they were the only ones not surprised when she stepped out of the shadows, her huge bug-like eyes darting around the room.

"Welcome once more, Children, to Divination," she said in a misty voice, trying and failing to sound mysterious. "I knew, of course, that all of you would be returning…and that there would be a newcomer in our midst." Her gaze turned to Sakura, sitting in the back, and it widened. She pointed a shaking finger at her. "You, Child! You…you have a great destiny before you! I see great trials…power…betrayal…beware, Child! Some go insane from too much power…such as the Dark Lord…" Harry groaned. "Harry dear, this is not something to take lightly. Death stalks you at every corner, waiting to pounce…"

"A great destiny, ne?" Sakura said loudly, trying to save Harry. "Well, it was bound to happen again sometime, right, Syaoran-kun?"

The class turned to stare at her. "What do you mean, Child?"

Sakura laughed humorlessly. "Almost six years of my life have been controlled by "fate" and "destiny." It's really not that much of a surprise."

Trelawney was silent. Then…"Well then, class, let's move on. This year, we are going to be starting with the art of meditation. Those who sufficiently clear their mind and open it to the power of the cosmos, and of course, possess a strong inner eye, may be chosen to receive some vision, telling them of the future."

She waved her wand, and all of the chairs and tables vanished, leaving approximately thirty small mats in rows, facing the front.

"Please take a seat on one of the mats and attempt to meditate."

The class slowly gravitated to the mats—Sakura grabbing one next to Syaoran, and sat. Everyone closed their eyes, but it was quite obvious that it wasn't working—they fidgeted, rustled, cracked their eyes to see what the others were doing.

"Still your thoughts, children…let the secrets of the universe flow into your mind…"

For Syaoran, meditation was as easy as breathing, having been raised to do it since birth. Sakura had been trying since Syaoran left, and was proficient, but had never fully achieved it. Ron was failing, Harry doing little better, and Fai…Fai was already immersed in it. Wow.

Sakura breathed deeply, trying not to think. Slowly, she opened her senses to the magic flowing around her, ebbing and swirling like water. And then she was falling...falling…falling…

_Sakura drifted slowly over a large field—a battlefield. Warriors lay slain below her, and in the distance, rubble loomed, growing closer very swiftly. Fog whirled around her, blocking the sunlight from her view._

_Soon, she was over the ruins. What had this been, she wondered? As she drifted into an empty space near the center of the rubble, words began to reach her ears._

_"Fear not, children of magick…the time is nearly here…fear not, children of magick…for your freedom is near…"_

_The words were barely a whisper, and she had to strain to hear them. A few more snatches reached her. "Wield the cosmos…innate magic…love…resourcefulness…Dark will fall…the Song…the Melody…the Dance…had never begun."_

_She was in the center of the room now, and in front of her, the fog cleared, revealing seven figures, lying on the ground._

_The last of the fog cleared, and her eyes widened._

_Lying in front of her were the seven people she considered her best friends._

_Tomoyo. Eriol. Fai. Harry. Ron. Hermione._

_Syaoran._

_They were all dead._

_And she began to scream._

Harry had finally managed to calm his mind, and was beginning to slip into meditation. He was surprised—normally he was horrible at divination, but at this, he was doing pretty well.

Until his concentration was broken by Sakura screaming.

Syaoran was deep in meditation. Through years of practice, he had managed to make it so that he could meditate, while still being aware of the outside world.

Which is why he was the first to react when a flash of terror and panic reached him through the mind-link, and Sakura began to scream.

Sakura was brought back to the real world with a snap, and she instantly collapsed onto the floor, still screaming. The images of her dead friends were imprinted in her mind—she could not get rid of them.

Dimly, she felt someone wrap their arms around her, and call her name. "Sakura!"

Syaoran?

But…he was dead…

"YING-FA!"

Her screaming stopped abruptly, and she was suddenly sharply aware of the warm presence enveloping her. It /was/ Syaoran. She looked up, to find herself in the divination room, crushed against Syaoran's chest as he held her. She trembled, but somehow managed to keep from crying. _He's not dead. They're not dead._

"What…happened?" she asked.

"We were meditating, and you started screaming, and then you collapsed.

Trelawney pushed her way through the crowd of students surrounding them, her eyes wide and bugged out. "What did you see, child?"

The room was silent, awaiting Sakura's answer.

The bell rang.

Sakura instantly jumped up—still slightly wobbly—and grabbed her things. She was out of the room before anyone else could react, Syaoran right behind her.

Trelawney stared for a moment, before sighing. "Some people do choose not to share was the universe tells them. That is their choice."

The rest of the class left soon after.

-x::x-

Sakura raced down the halls. Divination was her last class until astronomy tonight, so now she ran desperately. She needed to get away from that room, from the images in her mind. Syaoran tried to keep up with her, but he was finding it difficult.

'Sakura, what happened?' he asked through the mind-link. She was silent. Then, suddenly, a memory was shoved through the link and into his mind. He watched it as he ran, and shivered at the end.

'Sakura, please stop running,' he asked quietly. She did, so suddenly he nearly crashed into her—and then she whirled and hugged his, shaking like a leaf.

"Don't die, Syaoran," she whispered. "Please don't die."

"Of course I won't. At least not by my own free will," he replied. Sakura nodded into his chest. "What do you think it means?" he asked.

"The same thing as always," she replied, exasperation and resignation in her voice. "We're going to save the world again."

-x::x-

Harry and Ron ran down the hall, searching for Hermione. Harry was the one who spotted their bushy haired friend first, walking far ahead of them.

"Hermione!" he yelled. "HERMIONE!"

She stopped and turned, eyes widening at the sight of the two boys tearing down the hall towards her. "Harry, Ron?" she asked, as they skidded to a halt in front of her, gasping for breath. "What's wrong?"

"Divination…gasp…Sakura…gasp…screaming…gasp…ran…gasp…away…gasp," Ron panted.

"Slow down, Ron," Hermione said, exasperated. "What happened with Sakura in Divination?"

Harry was the one who answered her, having regained his breath first.

"We were doing meditation in Divination, because apparently you can "receive knowledge from the universe."

Hermione snorted.

"Yeah, well, right in the middle of it, Sakura started screaming, and when she finally came out of her meditation, she collapsed. Syaoran grabbed her, and steadied her, and then Trelawney came over and asked her what she saw. Sakura grabbed her stuff and ran out without saying anything, and Syaoran ran after her. Trelawney said something about people not choosing to say "what the universe tells them," and then we left to come find you.

Hermione looked worried. She didn't believe in Divination, but Sakura saw something that upset her. "I wonder if she's okay…Harry, can you find them on the map?"

"Sure…" he replied, digging it out of his bag. He had taken to carry it everywhere recently. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he muttered, tapping the parchment with his wand. Spidery lines spread across it, forming the familiar map of Hogwarts.

"Let's see…" he muttered, scanning the map for the dots of their friends. "There they are! They're in the DADA room…but that's odd…"

"What is it?" Ron asked, trying to peer over Harry's shoulder.

"They're with Eriol and Tomoyo…and two people I don't recognize. And they aren't the Professors."

Hermione's eyes widened. "What?" she exclaimed, and snatched the map from him. She found the dots in question, confusion spreading across her face. "Yue…and Ruby Moon…"

Ron looked between his friends, before holding up his hands and shaping them like puppets. He spoke in a high pitched voice.

"Let's go to the library, you guys!"

The other puppet-hand, in a slightly deeper voice.

"But Hermione, why?"

"Something's going on, and we have to find out what, Ronald!"

Deeper voice.

"She's right, Ron."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"YES!!!!"

"AHHHHH!!!" The one puppet hand was dragged away by the other.

He looked up to find his friends staring at him, dumbfounded expressions on their face.

"What?" he asked. "I'm just saving myself the trouble. Let's go."

He turned around and began to head in the direction of the library. The other two turned to look at each other.

"Are we really that predictable?"

-x::x-

Meanwhile, in the DADA classroom, Sakura was just finished telling everyone the details of her vision—all of them having shivered at the ending, like Syaoran had.

Yue looked thoughtful. "I can't be sure what it means…but, quite obviously, something big is coming. And the line about wielding the cosmos…would that refer to sorcerers?"

Eriol looked up at this. "You're right! We wield the sun, moon, stars, the elements…in essence, the cosmos. Then, the innate magic, could refer to Wizards…they have a magical core of their own, "innate magic.""

Tomoyo added her bit. "But what could the rest of it mean? The Song…the Melody…the Dance…"

"Looks like we have some researching to do," Ruby Moon said, dejectedly. "And I was so looking forward to feed Suppi-chan magical sweets!"

They all sweatdropped.

-x::x-

Dinner that night was a tense affair. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had spent all afternoon in the library—and found nothing. But they were still suspicious of their friends, and it showed in their stiff movements. Sakura, Syaoran, and the others had researched some of the ancient tomes Yukito and Nakuru had in their office—and had also come up with nothing.

Fai looked back and forth between the two parties. He too, was curious about the divination incident, but he was more worried than suspicious. He tried to start conversation a few times, but failed miserably.

He resorted to being quiet. Oh, how he hated silence. It reminded him of his time in the pit.

Sakura yawned widely. "I'm going to go upstairs," she said. "Very tiring day, and I still have some homework to finish before Astronomy…see you guys."

She kissed Syaoran on the cheek, and headed out of the hall. Kami, how she hated silence. It was always filled with everything you didn't want to say.

-x::x-

(Here's the evil ending.)

The next morning, Sakura hummed happily to herself as she skipped down the corridor, heading for the Great Hall for breakfast. Her mind was a million miles away, thinking about the events of the past few days—her classes, the spar, her vision, and most recently, last night's Astronomy Class. She had always been very attuned to the stars—them being the source of her magic—but now she was beginning to learn their true meanings.

So absorbed was she in her thoughts that she didn't notice the menacing aura behind her until it was too late.

"_Stupefy_," a voice hissed, and Sakura stumbled and fell to the ground, frozen, as the jet of red light hit her in the small of her back.

Her face turned to the side, she could only see her attacker in her peripheral vision. A cloak covered their face.

_'Dammit,'_ she thought. A voice yanked her from her thoughts, though.

"I _could_ kill you, bitch. However…torturing you would be _so_ much more satisfying, as you would live, and I would get to see your pretty little confusion as you try to figure out who I am…and your _depression_ when Syaoran finally sees you for the pathetic little whore you are and leaves you for me. So…_crucio_."

Sakura's backed arched and she began to spasm uncontrollably as pain like knives and fire and just pure _torture_ surged through her body.

She screamed, loudly, hoping desperately that someone would hear her and _stop the pain_.

Her attacker laughed sadistically, obviously enjoying her pain.

Sakura's cards glowed brightly in her pocket, echoing the agony of their Mistress.

Finally, the attacker lowered their wand, and the pain stopped, though its ache still throbbed throughout Sakura's body.

"I'll be watching," her attacker whispered, and vanished. Sakura, however, was too far away to hear—deep in her mind, where no one could find her, no one could reach her—and, most importantly, no one could hurt her. One distant, fleeting thought trailed through the mind link.

_'Syaoran…'_

-x::x-

Syaoran was currently scowling and sending Uchiha Level Death Glares™©® at anyone (or anything, for that matter) that came within five feet of him. However, if you knew him, you'd realize that his 'anger' was actually worry.

Extreme, extreme worry.

For Sakura.

'My kawaii little descendent,' Eriol's voice filtered through the mind-link. 'Calm down. I'm sure the poor salt shaker didn't do anything to deserve such animosity. Sakura will be fine.'

Syaoran blinked, and realized that he was in fact attempting to glare the salt-shaker into oblivion.

'Yeah…' he thought, and let the tension and death-glareness run out of him, causing several people around him to let out breaths they hadn't known they'd been holding.

It was at that moment that Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Fai walked into the Hall and sat down across from Syaoran.

Notice the wary glances the other Gryffindors were casting at the Li, Fai poked him playfully. "Already scaring the poor innocents, Syaoran-kun?"

In response, Syaoran glared at him, though with considerably less vehemence than before. The mage laughed—and then abruptly became serious.

"So. What's worrying you?"

Syaoran sighed. "It's Sakura. She told me to go ahead—she needed to finish a paper. She said it would only take a few minutes. But she hasn't come down."

"Huh?" Ron asked, looking up with a mouthful of food, unable to not be concerned for a friend, even if they were suspicious of them. "—curuhz msig?" (Sakura's missing?)

"Ronald, for Heaven's sake!" Hermione said, exasperated, whacking him. "_Swallow._"

She turned to Syaoran. "We didn't see her on the way down…"

Syaoran was about to reply, when suddenly, a piercing scream echoed through the hall, causing everyone to go dead silent. A second later, Syaoran doubled over, clutching his head as unbearable pain stabbed into his mind.

Disjointed images flashed across his eyes; a dark hallway, a cloaked figure, a jet of red light, and unbearable, _unbearable_ pain.

Distantly, the sound of someone shouting his name reached his ears, but he couldn't tell if it was inside his head—or out.

The screaming finally stopped, and the pain in his head faded to a dull ache. A faint voice in his mind whispered, "_Syaoran,"_ and then it vanished.

He was dimly aware of someone shaking his shoulder and that the Hall had broken out into loud chatter. McGonagall was attempting to regain order.

Syaoran's eyes widened as he realized who that voice had come from. He leapt to his feet, ignoring his still aching head, and startling Hermione, who had been the one shaking his shoulder. The world spun for a moment, and then righted itself.

"Hiiragizawa," he attempted to yell, but it came out as a croak. He cleared his throat, and tried again.

"HIIRAGIZAWA!" he shouted, startling several people. The mage looked across to him.

'_It's Sakura,_' Syaoran thought desperately, and Eriol's eyes widened. He quickly turned to Tomoyo and explained something. Her eyes widened, and she looked like she was about to argue, but a few muttered words from Eriol caused her to deflate. The mage nodded at Syaoran and they both ran towards the doors—only to be stopped by McGonagall.

"And where do you think you're going?" she asked sternly. "All students are to remain in the Hall."

A wave of killing intent roll off of Syaoran, so potent it would have made the most hardened warrior fall to his knees, begging for mercy.

"I'm going to save the most important person in my life," he snarled. "Get. Out. Of. My. Way."

Without waiting for an answer, he pushed past her, and he and Eriol tore out of the Hall, neither noticing the cloaked figure beside the doors, hidden in the shadows.

"Soon…" the whispered and slipped into the hall, vanishing into the chaos.

-x::x-

Syaoran and Eriol race through the corridors, following Sakura's faint aura.

_'What happened to her?' _Eriol thought as they ran. _'You obviously know, if the way you were doubled over in pain was any indication.'_

Syaoran was silent. Then…

_'Cruciatus,'_ her thought, and Eriol tensed.

Before he could reply, Sakura's aura suddenly became stronger, and Syaoran sped ahead, leaving Eriol behind.

_'Sakura, please be all right,'_ he prayed.

-x::x-

The corridor Sakura was in was so dark that they would have missed her entirely has Syaoran not practically stumbled over her.

Syaoran's eyes became shadowed, and his face was deceptively blank as he knelt beside her and gathered her into his arms. Eriol came up behind him, and drew in a sharp breath.

"Kami-sama…" he breathed, as he took in the sight before him.

Sakura was like a limp—no, _dead_—flower. Her skin was pale, her breathing shallow, and her eyes—for they were open—were a dull, blank, lifeless green, devoid of all life they usually held.

One looking at Syaoran at that moment might think, 'Why is he so calm?'

But, to those who knew the signs—like Eriol—it was obvious.

The stiff movements, the barely controlled tremors, and the _tsunami_ of killing intent.

Syaoran was angry. No, scratch that. He was downright, god-damn _FURIOUS._

When Syaoran looked up, Eriol almost took a step back at the look in his eyes.

It was the blank, dead look one only gets when his or her soul-mate is hurt.

Eriol actually felt sympathetic for whoever did this. No one, not even Voldemort, deserved what Syaoran would do if he ever found them.

Syaoran spoke, his voice low and deadly.

"I am going to find whoever did this. And they…they are going to wish they'd _never…been…born…_"

----

_Fear not, children of magick  
The time is nearly here  
Fear not, children of magick  
For your freedom is near_

_In this time of darkness  
When our birth is not a right  
But what gives us our rights  
And acceptance is but a wish, a dream_

_Light shall come forth  
The boundaries of blood will be broken  
And after nearly a millennia of  
Hatred, judgment, spite, mistrust, disdain_

_**All **__the children will stand together—and fight  
Fight for justice  
Fight for liberty  
Fight for love_

_Under the light of the Stars_

~An excerpt from "The Prophecy of the Song"  
1000 A.D.  
X.H to S.M.R.H

----

-end chapter five-

Author's Note: -stares- …it's done. IT'S DONE!!!!! WHOOT!!!! Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that after nearly eight months, chapter five of Song of the Eclipse is at last, done! I hope its length (18 pages, 8,119 words) made up for my extended absence. Most of it was written today in the car when I had no internet connection on the way back from Kentucky.

FORESHADOWING GALORE. SEE IF YOU CAN FIND IT.

Some questions I think people might ask—

_Is the cloaked figure outside the hall the same one who attacked Sakura?_

I dunno. No, just kidding. I do know, even though I only decided at the end of the chapter, when I was writing it. It was an epiphany—"Whoa! I can do _that_ and make this story even more convoluted than it already is!"

Are they or aren't they? In the exasperating, constantly used words of my author friend Kyuubi123 and their character the MCF (Mysterious Cloaked Figure—c'mon, Kyuu, reveal who he is already!), THAT IS A SECRET!

_Who was praying for Sakura to be all right?_

I meant it to be Eriol, but my writing conveys it as Syaoran—so, it's both. Syaoran just because—you know why, Eriol because he loves Sakura as a sister/daughter/friend, and can't bear to see her hurt—or Syaoran hurt because she's hurt. Did that make sense?

_WTF? The Prophecy of the Song? And who are X.H and S.M.R.H?_

Believe it or not, this plays a major part in the story line. That "excerpt" is almost the first half of a prophecy that spans the front and back of the piece of notebook paper that is lying beside me at this very moment. Don't worry—it will be revealed in its entirety in the next chapter, "Things Yet to Come." (I made that chapter name up on the spot—don't trust it.)

As for the initials…^^; They pretty much mean nothing. I needed names, so there you go. However, I will not reveal them, as they will play a minor part later. But their first names are Xing and Sora.

Also, you will all be pleased to know that after months of flying by the seat of my pants, this story now has a tentative plotline. And…I'll let you in on a secret…-glances around furtively- _I have at least one sequel planned._ HAH. Put that in your pipe and smoke it! It is vaguely hinted at in this chapter…O.O

Okay. This note is running overlong, so I'm going to go now. That and it's almost eleven here. The things I do for you guys…I'll try to update soon, but no promises. Sorry for my horrible transitions.

Ja ne!

--Erin


	6. MINOR REWRITE! A few weeks, honestly!

Author's Note: Hey, people of FF! I'm really, REALLY sorry for yet ANOTHER author's note--but this is REALLY IMPORTANT! Just last night, I read this really awesome fanfiction guide by the author of "Onyx Snow" (can't remember the username--it starts with a K.)

(Read Onyx Snow by the way. Tis Harry Potter and completely AMAZING.)

And reading the guide made me come to several conclusions, and also made me decide to act on an idea that I've been thinking about recently.

Song of the Eclipse is going to be undergoing a MINOR REWRITE.

I say minor, because it really shouldn't take me more than a few weeks, depending on my mood.

Basically, I'm going to be getting rid of all the overused clichés and mistakes, correcting discrepancies that several reviewers have pointed out, and integrating the plot that it took me five chapters to come with maybe a BIT SOONER--albeit subtly.

Also, on my profile, I will be adding a section for my multichapter stories, basically telling you how I'm doing on the progress of the next chapter. (And also where I am in the process of rewriting.) At the moment, Chapter Six is about two or three pages long. =D See, I'm writing! And I will continue to write it even as I'm rewriting the rest! Check the profile constantly!

Don't worry--there won't be any MAJOR changes. I'm really just trying to make this a better, more unique story.

Which brings me to this--I have a couple of things I need you, the readers, to vote on.

Should Fai stay? I really added him on a whim, though he's starting to become more part of the story. But really, it's your choice? Should I keep him? You have until I rewrite chapter three to tell me your thoughts, 'cuz that's when he shows!

Should I tone down the Sakura/Syaoran reunion aftermath a bit? (You know, Toya, friends, the train, etc. etc.) You have until…hmmm…again, chapter three!

I will keep you posted!

Ciao! (For a couple of weeks, anyways!)

--Erin


End file.
